Growth scans - expected big baby - terrified of birth 😔

[njr1895]

I’m currently 36+3 and had a growth scan yesterday. Baby is estimated to be 8lb2oz 😳 I had another scan 4 weeks ago and baby was estimated at 5lb5oz. I have another growth scan booked for 2 weeks, and the consultant has said they will reassess then. More than likely I will be induced on or around my due date. In all honesty I am absolutely terrified. I have gone through my whole pregnancy a bit naive about birth but now I’m petrified of the possibility I will give birth to a possible large baby. I know it is all estimated and no one knows until the birth. I’m just hoping the hospital commit to a plan at my next visit as they seem a bit ‘we shall just see what happens’ at the moment. Sorry for the long post, just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience x

With DS I was told I was ‘measuring a wee bit big’ all the way along and was actually having extra scans for another reason. At 39 weeks they estimated him at already over 8lb and asked if I was concerned, I said no as my mum had had two big babies with no problem and delivered him at 40+6 with gas and air in the pool he was 9lb 6oz.
Annoyingly they’ve now changed their protocol and at my 28 week midwife appointment I was told I was measuring above the 90th centile for my ‘personalised chart’ despite it being a perfectly standard 28 cm and I’m being packed off to the hospital for a growth scan next week. If baby is measuring above 90th on this daft chart then I’ll be high risk, they’ll offer early induction (which I don’t want) and insist on the labour ward - so no pool and certainly no homebirth - grrr. I am fully expecting it to be 10lb + perfectly healthy and all a fuss over nothing. For reference I was 9lb 4oz and my sister was 11lb 9oz and both uncomplicated births - our family just incubate big babies!

I was predicted a big baby, and he was quite big at 9lb 6oz. My first baby weighed 6lb 4oz, but I found the birth with the big one easier, with no tearing whatsoever, and a much faster recovery time too. I was in such a panic at the thought of having a big baby, but it was fine

I was a size 6 pre pregnancy, and my baby was over 10lbs, but I really think it was his positioning (back to back and forehead presentation) rather than his size that made things tricky. And though we did need some help (forceps), I delivered vaginally and he did fit through my boyish hips. Also, although it wasn’t the peaceful waterbirth I’d hoped for, we were so well looked after and it was a really positive experience.

So I’m voting even if your baby is big, I bet you’ll be ok. (Having great birth partners is a really good idea)

A medically large baby is actually anything over ten pounds so eight pounds isn’t that big, it’s only slightly bigger than average.

All of my DC were over ten pounds. The biggest was actually the easiest delivery .

This thread shows just how inaccurate growth scans are. It really makes me wonder why the NHS is so keen to induce if babies are “measuring” big, as surely an induction when the baby isn’t ready is more likely to lead to complications and cost more money than waiting spontaneous labour. Isn’t is supposed to be the head size rather than weight that’s the most critical? I also take the view that the human body will (generally) only gestate a baby it can deliver.

DD1 was measuring pretty average at all scans (I had a lot as I’m not in the UK). She was 5lb 7oz at 40+5, so tiny!

In my experience the NHS don’t automatically induce for a big baby. My consultant said there is no clear research-based evidence for early induction of large babies, so what would we prefer to do? I chose to induce at 40+14 because of the (minimal) increase in stillbirth risk after that point.

I was induced in June for a 'healthy sized baby' midwives were surprised the consultant decided to do it, before this I was midwife led planning on hypno birthing. The induction lasted five, yes five days! After failed forceps I was then given an emcs, my advice... Let nature do its thing. I'm convinced that had I not been induced I would of delivered just fine, yes he was 10.8, but larger baby's have gravity on their side! I sympathise as the amount of people who commented on the size really upset me nearing the end of pregnancy and I only put on weight on my tummy, also the growth scan was out they predicted a nine pounder! Good luck and make your voice heard!

I was told DS1 was going to be a huge (measuring big and a growth scan), he was 12 days late and 7lbs3.

Told the same story for DS2, he was 13 days late and 9lbs15. He was out in 5 pushes and I was home by the afternoon.

Agree that growth scans always seem to suggest that baby is way bigger than they are.

Also, I had a very complicated delivery with my first (a small baby) and during my second pregnancy, my consultant was always so happy to see baby (and me!) getting bigger as he was sure I would fare out much better with a bigger baby; and he was proven correct with my second delivery.

I had growth scans for the opposite reason, they said she was going to be tiny, I thought eh look on the bright side for my first birth it won't hurt that much pushing out a little baby, a 5lb baby they said. She was 10lb 8🙃

I was induced at 39 weeks because of a big baby. At 35 weeks he was measuring 8lb 3oz and I was crapping myself. He was 8lb 3oz born. So either he didn’t grow for 4 weeks or they were wrong. I know which is more likely!

With my youngest at a 35 week scan to check where my placenta was because it was anterior & very low at 20 weeks. I was told to expect my daughter to be at least 10lb. When she arrived at 40+2 she was 7lb 1oz, the smallest of all my babies.