Short long bones

[Lou9876]

At 36 weeks I have had a growth scan and they said the baby has short long bones so I am booked to see a consultant on Monday. I am quite short (5’4) with short legs but I can’t help but worry. Has anyone else experienced this?

Can't offer advice op but wanted to boost your post up for you. Hopefully someone can offer you some. I hope Monday goes well for you

Have they just dropped percentiles or are they now off the graph? In response to a similar worry recently (where they dropped to 5th percentile, and everything else was still on the 50th or above) I was told that there is a huge margin of error and every sonographer measures slightly differently, and also it's particularly tricky to get accurate measurements for these late gestational stages. So it might well be nothing!

How short are they? Do you know what centile? How does that compare to previous scans. As PP has said it can be simply be a technical issue with the scan. I assume all else is looking normal? What was the reason for you having growth scans?
Sorry for all the questions, just need to know a bit more to make a meaningful comment

Thank you 🙏🏼

They are below the 5th centile and it looks like they have dropped from looking back at records from previous scans, they have always been small but nothing was ever mentioned before. Everything else is looking normal and I tested low risk for downs but it is just so so worrying. I was booked in for a 36 week scan as apparently it’s routine in my hospital now - I certainly was not expecting to hear anything like this and now I’m beside myself with worry. The sonographer was not very reassuring and simply said it could be because you are short, or it could also be a genetic problem.

I have this; my little one (now 35 weeks) has short femurs, below 5th centipede, when the rest of her is around the 5th. As a result we were referred for amnio which thankfully concluded no genetic conditions. I'm very tall though (6ft) so this is strange for me. None of my consultants have been able to offer an explanation.. maybe just a case of she will be petite with little legs. Maybe just continue to take vitamin D and she/he may have a little growth spurt. 🤞🏼

I was told the same thing at my 28 & 34 week scan... the sonographer said she would refer it but I probably wouldn't get a call as she didn't think it was anything to worry about.
Luckily that same day I had another appointment with the consultant so I went over it with him as I was really worried.
He looked at the report of the scan and said that there was no issue at all, at this stage it's irrelevant if the femur bone was showing slightly small... they look at all areas and mainly the stomach.

Late growth scans can be horribly inaccurate, which they never tell you. They can cause horrendous worry.
Slightly different- I was told baby was 8lb13 at 36 weeks. Born at 38, 7lb 3. I was terrified.
Just try to enjoy your last weeks- hopefully consultant will reassure you.

This happened with one of my twins - femurs dropped below 5th centile at 28 weeks. They didn’t seem concerned about it. Turns out he had IUGR - he stopped moving at 35+1 which I only found out because I felt unwell and my midwife sent me in to get checked out, so I had an emcs right away.

Not saying any of this to scare you, but definitely talk to them about IUGR and keep a close eye on movements.

One of my DCs had this. He was off percentiles small for femur length, rest around the 5th. We were so worried, especially as DH and I are average height but he ended up completely fine, just small. He's now at school and still very short (shorter than his brother 2 years younger), but strong, healthy and has been investigated since for growth hormone issues etc and is absolutely fine, just small.
Good luck to you both!

I also had this at a 32 week scan (for an unrelated reason) and was sent for a more specialist scan to measure all the long bones (femur, humerus etc). The femurs were especially short and I was terrified of genetic issues but was reassured this was unlikely given there were no other markers. I ended up having lots more scans, twice weekly ECGs and was induced at 39 weeks and my baby was short, but fine. He was small (6lb) and they classed him as IUGR, but is now over one and tall!

Thank you all, I do feel more assured now as elsewhere on google, you only hear the negative stories. I know this anxiety can not be good for the baby either so I am trying to relax about it today and just hope and pray tomorrow goes well. I’ve started to think these late scans can cause more worry than anything else. Glad to hear about all the positive outcomes for you all.

Forgot to add, for other reasons DT2 has had significant genetic testing including his whole genome sequenced and as yet they’ve found nothing. He has some disabilities but they have no idea if the IUGR is related. In the majority of cases it turns out to be inaccurate or nothing to be concerned about. He was much smaller than his twin and they’re now the same height and weight (they are both short - 2nd centile for height, 12th for weight).

Also, you are almost term (if not already, depending how long ago the scan was) so even if they decide that growth is too slow and they have to deliver, that shouldn’t be a big issue, which is a good position to be in.

If your baby’s growth has slowed or stopped then getting them out is best for them. I’d be more concerned about them ignoring this finding TBH so it’s good that they’re being proactive.

Just be mindful of any reduced or dramatically increased movements and get checked out right away if that happens. Obviously it’s much easier to tell if this happens with one baby than two! I am so lucky that I felt so unwell and still don’t know if it was related or not - I had a bad headache and couldn’t sleep and just felt “wrong”. I’ve never been a “trust your instincts” kind of person but it’s definitely taught me to listen to my body more. My midwife was really just playing it safe, neither of us expected me to have my twins that night. If you’re worried about anything, don’t be afraid to get checked out - that’s why they are there and all they kept saying to me was how glad I was that I went in.

I know it’s horrible to feel so anxious and not know what’s going on - chances are it’s nothing at all to worry about but they’re being cautious just in case this is the start of a problem. If your baby is moving as normal then that’s your main indicator that all is well, far more so than bone measurements etc, so try to focus on that :)

Hope things go well for you tomorrow

Thank you @SinkGirl - movements haven’t slowed at all thankfully, in fact baby was wriggling around so much during the scan, I’m hoping that meant they couldn’t get accurate measurements. It was more than idea of a genetic problem that is worrying me , but as everyone has said, without any other factors, hopefully it is all fine 🙏🏼 It gives me hope that it’s happened to lots of other mums and their babies have been fine. Hope your twins are doing well.

Actually looking back at previous scans, which were with a different hospital, they have always been around this mark however it was never mentioned. Is it usually only an issue if they have dramatically dropped? Or I wonder if it could have been overlooked. The new hospital didn’t have these figures as I didn’t have them with me so I’m wondering if that could have made any difference.

If previous measurements were at a similar percentile I'd say that is reassuring. When I was worried a few weeks ago (and still am tbh) they told me that a) there is a huge margin of error in any individual measurements, and b) what they are most interested in is that growth happens on the same curve. So if the femur measurements were comparable across various scans that's good. What would be worrying is if they have stopped growing or dramatically dropped centiles.

Well the consultant did put my mind at rest, obviously they can’t ever be certain but if everything else is fine (there are no other markers for anything) she said it is likely to just be a case of a shorter baby. Hopefully this is reassuring for anyone else worrying too.

Glad you got reassurance from the consultant. Makes you feel so much better ☺️

Hi all I’m going through something similar 28 weeks and been having growth scans since 20 weeks for short femur and humerus ranged between 9th and 3rd percentile up and down today again measured between 3rd-5th so have to go back in 2 weeks times for another growth scan. She said they obviously have to make me aware it can be due to genetic reasons but most likely just a small baby. Offered amniocentesis but declined it. I noticed a few of you were later on in pregnancy and wondered if anyone had an update from a couple of months back? Thanks 😊 x

Hi, I have the same issue here and I am very worried if you don’t mind me asking is everything okay with baby

@Lou9876 I had this same situation last year, with the measurement on the 0.4th centile. Like you I was panicked by this, I was under consultant care anyway and having regular scans but it was only noticed later on. I had low risk for downs etc, they mentioned doing an amino but because I'm short & my husband isn't the tallest either she said it's way more likely to just be a small baby & an amnio comes with it's own risks.

Anyway, my consultant was right! We had a perfectly healthy baby with no complications (who is still on the 2nd centile for length!). That's just my experience but hoping it brings you some reassurance.

Sorry that was for you @Mummyhttt , hope you're feeling ok!

Hi, I’m going through this now and just wondering what your outcome was? X

@Lou9876 im going through this now and wondering what your outcome was? X