Extra growth scans

[GinGeum]

Does anyone have experience with having extra growth scans because a previous baby was born below 10th centile? My last baby was 9th so have been referred for extra scans (first one being next week) but he was 6lb4 so not exactly tiny and both me and my husband are fairly petite. I would be more worried by a big baby!

I'm really keen for a MLU birth and worried this extra monitoring will result in CLU birth or interventions that I don't want, but obviously don't want to put baby under unnecessary risk.

I'm going for extra growth scans with this baby due to last baby been induced with IUGR. The extra scans are just to keep an eye on you, as long as baby is growing well and fine there is no reason why you can't have your baby in a birthing centre ☺️x

Hi
I had regular growth scans from 25 weeks as baby was showing consistently below 10th centile. I was induced at 37+4 and she weighed 5lb 3oz on the 4th centile. She's now 16 weeks and about 11lb. Perfectly healthy in every way.

I had extra growth scans for DC3 for this reason.
I had a growth scan at 28 weeks, this showed DC3 to be between the 5th and 10th centiles so I was scheduled for extra growth scans. I had the impression that they’d have stopped with one growth scan if they’d been happy with his weight then.

Ultimately he was induced at just over 37 weeks because the growth scans showed he’d stopped growing so it would have been too risky for DC3 to wait for me to go into labour naturally.
If he’d continued growing along his centile line, the doctors would have been happy for me to give birth in the MLU (which is close to the CLU in the hospital we used anyway).
The induction ended in an EMCS, but that was needed because DC3 had the cord wrapped around his neck, rather than because of something to do with the induction itself.

So while I did have interventions following the extra monitoring, they were necessary interventions - e.g. DC3 would have still stopped growing without the extra scans, we just wouldn’t have known about it as early as we did.

My first baby was born on the 6th centile so had growth scans for the next ones. My third is currently following the same pattern as the other 2 so consultant seems happy that I just have small babies but will continue to monitor it. If growth is fine then I don't see why the birth can't be mlu for you and if there is a problem with growth then it's better being picked up.

My first baby was 8th centile so I'm having extra scans this time too. Due to his size I was induced at 37 weeks, which ended up with emergency CS as he was in distress.

I'm consultant led and will find out after my 30 week scan what my options for delivery are. If your baby is measuring as expected then there shouldn't be any reason for you not to have the MLU birth that you want.

I’m in the same boat at the moment, I’m consultant led.. not that I’ve seen her much. DS was born just over the 5th centile, and has rocketed up to the 50th for both weight and height so he’s not over fed by 4 months, I was induced with pre eclampsia too so there’s a few extra points on my card as such.

I’m already measuring very slightly behind, but could’ve been due a spurt. My first proper growth scans not till the end of December. But I’ve been told if number 2 is measuring well and I keep well I’ll be let go as long as I need.

I’m a bit of a short arse but dp isn’t as genetically both families babies are 8lb-10lb. Biggest being 13lb (my side). So he’s the fluke in the family so farz

Sorry to hijack your thread, but if one baby has IUGR does the next have a higher risk of this too? My baby had IUGR and was really unwell when he was born.

Hi, I'm having extra growth scans due to low Papp-A and currently I am CL but could be ML if she does grow enough!

I’m pregnant with my 4th and I saw this time they classified my first as little baby on 7th percentile and I’ll have growth scans because of that.
He was 3320 grams, really good in my opinion as also me and my husband were similar weight at birth.

To be honest I believe they’re exaggerating on this, at least in my case. Do they expect everyone to have 5 kilos babies? I’m fine with tiny ones, easy to deliver.

I'd check with your hospital what their policy is on using the MLU as you might be getting your hopes up only to have them let down. In my area you are strictly not allowed on the MLU if you've had even one extra scan and even if that scan showed everything was ok.

Local ML/HB units don’t accept women with a history of low percentile (ie below 10%) babies. Could be different in your area but best to check now before you get your hopes up. Also it’s not often as simple as small parents = small babies. A six pound baby can be considered a problem if your personalized curve (race, ethnicity, or size) suggests you should be having larger babies.

Thanks for all the experiences. It's been so hard to get a firm answer from any of the midwives - one has encouraged a home birth and another is baffled why I don't have a consultant for example, just so inconsistent. If a CLU birth is the plan, it's not the end of the world (DS was born there) but I'd just rather be kept in the loop (something they don't seem so good at in general!)