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?

[Lou9876]

I’m so glad to hear that your baby girl was born in perfect health, congratulations!! However what they put you through, and the fact that they presumably induced? your baby at 37 weeks for no real reason other than “measuring small” is absolutely outrageous!!! It is impossible to accurately measure babies in the womb later in pregnancy. This fear based maternity care is getting completely out of control and I’m so angered that SO many people are having these experiences. The worry and anguish it’s causing to pregnant people and the induction of babies so early is SCANDALOUS and needs to stop!! What evidence did they have to tell you there could be something wrong with your baby?? Don’t they get that some humans are just smaller than others at birth?!! If they aren’t telling us baby is measuring small, they says baby is measuring big and lo and behold - they want to induce!!!

[Senso21]

I remember having a 28 week scan with my DD and her femur bones were short (on a very low percentile with all other measurements around 50th)
I was never referred further for this though, and I now have a very petite but in proportion 9 year old, always been shortest in her class at school. I’m only 5 1” and her dad is shortish too so we just made a petite child. Hoping any further appts to look into this go well for you xx

[Ally638]

Hi I just thought I’d update for anyone who may be looking in the future - our baby was born a few weeks ago, delivered at 37 weeks exactly at the consultants advice because of all the concern - born absolutely perfect, yes she is small, 5.5lb - 8th centile at birth - but absolutely fine and growing well now. None of the consultants / baby doctors who observed / monitored / checked baby following birth could find any issues with femur or other bone length or any other issues.

[Lou9876]

Sorry I am only just seeing this now. Everything was fine with baby - she was 7lb at birth and not on the higher percentile for length but she is now 3 and tall!
It makes me so angry the way that maternity care is so fear based. I hope all is ok with you and your little one too xx

[Lou9876]

No problem at all, this forum was what gave me so much hope and strength a few years ago. These are the kind of conditions that were also mentioned to me as well and it makes me SO angry that this is how medical staff treat expectant mothers! I don’t know how far along you are or if there have been any other markers but this is EXACTLY how I was treated and it was all for nothing. Please know that you DO NOT have to go for any further scans or appointments if you do not wish to. If you do go, ask for facts, figures, statistics and know what all your options are. At this point in pregnancy, what use is it for them to just make you worry potentially completely unnecessarily! I know several doulas who could help you navigate the system/advocate for you so just let me know if you’d like to be put in touch. Sending you lots of strength and support ❤️❤️❤️

[Ally638]

@Lou9876 Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, I’m so pleased to hear your story had such a lovely positive outcome, congratulations on your little girl, I’m sorry to hear your birth was negatively affected, it’s definitely stressful considering all the conditions the specialists have focussed on in the last couple of days (dwarfism seems to be the one they think most likely) I have finished work now because I’m really struggling to cope, I have just had a consultants appt this morning and they are going to refer me back to fetal medicine to ask all my questions but my husband and I are just really holding onto the hope that it is all a load of fuss over nothing - I am booked in for another growth scan next week which is probably just going to cause more concern 🤦🏼‍♀️ just wish the consultants / specialists / doctors / anyone would be a bit more reassuring but It’s really reassuring to hear stories like yours so honestly thank you so much xxx

[Lou9876]

Im sorry to hear that, I know how stressful it can be. Our little girl was born in perfect health, she was 7lb but is now 3 y/o and tall for her age! She wasn’t on the higher percentile for length when she was born (but then again I’m not tall myself) however most babies have little scrunched up legs in the womb so how they come to these diagnoses is beyond me! And like I say she is now tall so it’s total BS if you ask me!

I now know that it’s impossible to measure babies in the womb at 30weeks plus, hence all the inaccuracies, so honestly I would never go for a late scan ever again. All that comes out of it is unnecessary scaremongering to mothers. I will say that the worry that this created for me, negatively impacted by birth and I ended up being coerced into an induction which ended in a c-section (not traumatic but not the birth I had hoped for) so I really hope that it doesn’t do the same to you.

I just don’t understand why they tell mothers these things when they know how inaccurate scans can me, and also what can it go apart from cause worry to an expectant mum?

Have you been booked in for more scans? I hope this has been helpful, please don’t hesitate to ask anything else!

[Ally638]

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

[Ally638]

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

[timetosave]

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

[timetosave]

@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.

[Mummyhttt]

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

[RainbowL2020]

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

[sjmco]

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

[Lou9876]

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.

[nopun]

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.

[Lou9876]

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.

[Lou9876]

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.

[SinkGirl]

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

[SinkGirl]

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).

[Lou9876]

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.

[Theoriginaldramallama]

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!

[Stuckforthefourthtime]

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!

[SinkGirl]

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.

[Cantchooseaname]

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.