Feeling concerned after midwife appointment bump measuring small and other concerns

[Itsnoteasyfeelingqueasy]

Hi, I just had a midwife appointment. I’m 32 weeks pregnant. My bump measured 30 cms. I already have a growth scan on Friday. Would you be worried?

Midwife couldn’t find babies heartbeat for a while. Eventually found it and it was 120bpm. She listed for quite a long time. Would you be worried?

My blood pressure was 70/? I thought that was shockingly low! I’m a nurse and if that was my patients bp I’d be worried. Would you be?

I guess I’m adding these three things together and feeling like something could be off. Any thoughts?

Measuring bump with a tape measure is hugely inaccurate.

If you are concerned then ring either your midwife or triage and discuss it with them.

I don't know much about what should be however just wanted to say:

I was under the impression you should measure near enough how many weeks you are in cm. So for example 32 weeks = 32 cm bump but they allow a give or take of 2cm so 30 is fine. I may be wrong though. But I personally wouldn't be worried. Bumps change by how baby is sitting etc.

As for the heart beat did she measure bump and position before? If she did this usually pisses off my baby and she wiggles away and it takes ages to find her heart the little rascal. It probably is because your baby is in a different position the good news is she did find it! And my midwife listens to the heartbeat for at least two minutes. That's how she establishes the BPM. So it's usual practice I think. Have you checked your notes to see if she's noted anything unusual? They normally document the baby's heart beat and any comments.

And the blood pressure I literally have no idea about. But I'm sure if she was concerned she would refer you. But if you are worried and you feel it is low, trust your judgement and seek second opinion 🌸💕

@lovelyjubbly12 thank you, that’s really helpful. I think you’re right about the baby moving. Midwife thought baby was head down with back to my left, I felt baby move and then when midwife tried to find heartbeat on left she couldn’t, she found it on the right. I hadn’t noticed them listen for so long before that’s a good point that they are getting the bpm.

The bump should measure a Cm per week but I have since read there is a allowance of 2 Cm either way. I’m really glad I’m having a scan on Friday that will reassure me on babies size xx

My bump pretty much stopped growing at 33 weeks so I spent the last 7 weeks having a weekly growth scan which all showed ok and DS arrived on his due date bang on the 50th centile so it isn't necessarily a concern :)

Glad you're getting the scan because sometimes it doesn't matter what you read or people say if you have that niggle in your mind you need to see everything's ok to put it to bed. Baby probably just decided to be a tad awkward at your appointment, try not to worry too much (which is impossible with these babies!!) 💕💕

Hey,

I've had 3 babies - last in my late 30's. My BP is always incredibly low during pregnancy. Systolic never over 90 and I think I got down to 68 over something at one point. None of the midwives ever batted an eye.

I also measured small in my last pregnancy. Got sent for a growth scan around 34/35 wks - baby was fine but I continued to measure small.

She was totally fine and weighed a respectable 8lbs when she was born.

I don't know about the heart rate but I had a google and found this www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678114/ Sounds like your baby was within normal parameters.

I hope you find this a bit reassuring. Good luck on Friday.

Try not to worry until you have the scan. As others have said the bump measuring is not very accurate. I had it the other way at my 28 week appointment measured at 29cm but the personalised growth charts they use now doesn't give me the 2cm leeway so looked like baby was well over the 95th percentile. Had a scan and baby is fine and according to the scan on the 60th percentile. None of the measuring they do is an exact science.

My bump also stopped "growing" at about 36 weeks- I never really measured more than 33cm. I had an extra growth scan and baby was fine. Came out at 6lb 12oz on 25th centile so a tad smaller than the average but completely normal size.
If your baby has moved further down into your pelvis then your bump won't get much bigger - the baby is still growing but it's moved position so the bump itself may not grow much more.

My midwife said they often find the mum's heartbeat (through the placenta) so need to make sure the heartbeat they are listening to is infact baby's. I think 120bpm is within the normal range so I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Ask any questions at your scan though, they'll be happy to help.

I was told my bump was small with my first baby, at around 38 weeks. I was worried I was going to have this teeny tiny baby. He came a week early and weighted almost 8lbs. The tape measure thing should really be taken with a pinch of salt.

Thank you all, this is reassuring to read. I’m not normally a worrier recently started to get a bit paranoid about still births. Luckily I have the scan on Friday and and another at 36 weeks to check growth.

@Moo678 that’s good to hear you midwifes weren’t concerned about low BP, mine today certainly didn’t seem concerned. I’m 37 years old and normally have a low BP but never know it as low as today. I have a BP machine so will recheck it.

@LolaLollypop @LemonBreeland I’m starting to think the tape measure thing is a bit pointless. Midwife said the babies head was down so it sounds like that would have also effected the size. It would be great if the bump didn’t get much bigger for me but of course as long as the baby is growing!

It’s sometimes hard to know if the midwife is really concerned and hiding it. It’s a good lesson for me as a nurse to see how much as a patient you hang on every word the health professionals say and analyse their expressions etc!

That’s good you have the 2 scans. I was similar at around 28-31 wks. I am now 38 and consistently measuring 2 weeks behind. But because I am always 2wks behind, I am still following MY line on the chart. Hope that makes sense.

Can't speak for the BP but I measured consistently way smaller on my fundal height. My 25 week apt measured 19cm if I remember correctly. I'm 5,7, 10 stone and a size 10 if that helps so normal BMI and size.
I had growth scans every 2-4 weeks and I was induced at 37 weeks as she was growing but not much. She was 5lb 3oz and perfect in every way and we were home 2 days later.

I had this eight years ago with my dd the midwife put the fear of god up me and after measuring the bump she made an appointment for me to go for a growth scan straight away, I was terrified ! My dd was born a very healthy 7.7 pounds so I don't think bump measurements are accurate at all.