Small head, chunky tummy, consultant not worried

[Peachytea]

Hello, I have had this morning a scan at 32+2 weeks. Baby is active and seems doing well, however her head is tiny (3 percentile) compared to her abdomen (75%). Femur is quite short as well, but weight is good (1,860).

I'm starting to panick a bit as it seems very unbalanced but my consultant seems very relaxed and said nothing to worry about.

Anybody had the same?

[Peachytea]

Also any idea if PI and RI are normal? Forgot to ask him

[alwaysmovingforwards]

Babies can and do grow in different ways, nature is not a computer system producing to a blueprint. If you have worries I'd talk to the consultant and if still worried ask for a second professional opinion.

I think it will put you more at ease than asking the opinions of non professionals.

[Angelinthenightx]

Hi i have gestational dibetes im 33wks now & having it does make your baby have a bigger tummy makes them put on weight there but my babies head is how many weeks she is but her tummy is a few weeks more. Have u been tested for this?x

[Peachytea]

@Angelinthenightx no, I haven't as didn't have risk factors at midwife's booking appointment. I think in my hospital they test if baby's tummy is more than 95th percentile, so I have never been tested.

[Teddybear45]

They would only be worried if the tummy was significantly in or above the top quartile compared to the head and femur. even then if your GD result returns normal it can be considered typical for your baby. They would only worry if the abdomen was signficantly smaller than the rest of the body as that is often a sign of placental insufficiency

[PotteringAlong]

I had it the other way around - tummy 5th percentile, head so big it was off the scale.

He was investigated for hydrocephalus when he was born. He didn’t have it; he just has a massive head! Even now at 7 I have to buy him adult size bobble hats because the kids ones don’t fit

[PotteringAlong]

Meant to add - he also had short legs so they weren’t too worried but, ironically, he’s now really tall!

[Nofunkingworriesmate]

If consultants with all their experience and knowledge isn’t worrying neither should you

[howyoulikemenow]

Why do you think we'd know better than your consultant who said not to worry?

[Peachytea]

@Teddybear45 thank you, that was very clear.

@PotteringAlong

[Bol87]

My daughters belly was measured off the scale at 31 one weeks and as such they estimated she’d be well over 9lb at birth. She was nearly two weeks overdue and bang on 8lbs.

I rolled my eyes as the sonographer who did the scan was really judgemental & frankly rude about my diet, suggesting I must eat a lot of junk (I’m a slim, health freak) and was putting my baby at risk from possible diabetes 😠 This was despite the fact she admitted she was struggling to get a good stomach measurement..

I’m glad she was really wrong ha.

Fingers crossed the measurements aren’t 100% and all will balance out!

[devilishlygood]

Ultrasounds are very difficult to get accurate measurements from after 24w because there’s not enough room, I should think this is a best guess rather than exact. Why were you scanned at 31w, do you have GD?

As PP, you’re unlikely to get an explanation here that’s more reassuring than that of your consultant...and if s/he’s not concerned, I’d be inclined to stop panicking 😊

[Cardboard33]

I had a 36 week scan (I have epilepsy so had routine monthly scans) which ended up being the day before I naturally went into labour. They said he was 6lbs from the scan and 36 hours later he came out as 7lbs so I imagine a lot of the other measurements were off too. Pretty sure I recall a conversation with my husband about our potentially small headed, bloated tummy baby. His head was actually really small though (3rd percentile) which meant pushing it out was comparatively easy ... You want them to have got that bit right!!

[Lottie917]

Sorry to re-activate an old thread but I was just wondering what your outcome was @Peachytea ? Was baby all okay?

I'm 37+5 and in a similar situation following my last growth scan last week. Just feeling a bit anxious. Consultant made a fly away comment that 'we would have to cross our fingers and hope for the best' which really hasn't helped 🤦🏼‍♀️

[Mas05]

@Lottie917 can you please update?

[Lottie917]

@Mas05 all is fine! DD is 10 weeks old today. She was indeed born with a smaller than average head (none of the newborn hats fitted her at all!) but she is overall very petite so it doesn't look out of proportion or anything like that and there is no issue. Tummy also fine. No one has raised any concerns since she's been born and she is a healthy little bubba 🥰

I stared a thread about it all here with a final update after DD was born if you wanted more context to my situation with DDs measurements 😊

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/pregnancy/4911642-babys-head-measuring-small-at-20-weeks

[Mas05]

@Lottie917 That's great that everything is fine, so happy for you. Thank you for replying