Baby dropping centiles

[JessicaJones35]

Having previously had smaller babies (6lb) I am being monitored closely. At 28 weeks this baby was on the 50th centile and today at 32 weeks it’s measuring 3rd centile. It seems like such a big drop in centiles.
I’m sooooo worried.
The hospital did a Doppler and the placenta blood flow all seems fine. They want me back in 1 week for a CTG and Doppler then again 1 week later and then on 3rd week for a growth scan.
I feel worried sick. What if there has been no growth in the 3 weeks? It feels like a long time to wait for another scan!
Can anyone provide any reassurance or their own experience? Thanks

Hi there, I am so sorry about the news that you have received and how worried you are. The only thing I wanted to post was that, while I have no experience in this myself, my nephew was born in February this year on the 2nd centile. He is now 6 months and on the 50th. He has been completely fine and my SiL had to go for growth scans her entire pregnancy pretty much. Her first was a small baby and my nephew was 5lbs 11oz. The fact the baby is on the 3rd centile means he is on the charts which is on the normal scale. It's good they are keeping and eye on you. babies go through growth spurts even in uterine. Wish u the best of luck x

Did they do a scan to get the centile reading as I think bump measurements can be a bit off.
Mine is just over 10th centile and they are doing the same as yourself, weekly ctg and extra scans, so don't worry they will keep an eye on you
My previous pregnancies, they were just over 10th centile and are now healthy children with no issues x

Yes they did a scan to get centile readings
Rather than measuring bump.
My previous babies have been consistently on lower centiles and all has been fine, I think I’m most worried because of the Sudden drop from 50th to 3rd!😬

Ahh I understand, maybe you can speak to your midwife for a bit of reassurance x

growth scan are notoriously inaccurate at later stages of digestion. after 12/13 weeks the inaccuracy increases by a week or more give or take.

I was sent for a growth scan as at my 28 week midwife app they measured my tummy on the larger end and then at my 32 week app they measured it on the smaller side which triggers a growth scan.

Sonographer measured baby on 3rd centile so I got sent for a scan wit a consultant within the fetal medicine department. had my scan 3 days later after being told baby was on 3rd centile to being told baby is on the 25th which is a massive difference.

on your scan report does it say anything about whether the view was restricted? on the scan which said baby was 3rd centile it said 'suboptimal view' and the scan report I had 3 days later where baby was placed on 25th centile it said 'good view'. I've been booked in for a scan in another 2 weeks time which is a little unsettling as its always in the back of my mind that something is not quite right but I'm just staying positive, eating lots of fruit and resting on my side during the day (apparently optimises blood flow). I'm fully aware that this may well not make the fainted difference but makes me feel a little more in control of the situation!

I've also know of plenty of women being induced early due to baby being too big and they go through all of that to have a baby that is not big and that actually could've done with hanging in there till their due date!

good thing is that they have not detected any problems with placenta or blood flow etc

best of luck x

*gestation not digestion! haha sorry excuse all the typos

Sorry you’ve had this happen OP - I’m not sure there’s anything we can say that will take the worry away completely!
If it helps though this is a reasonably common scenario - the key for you at the moment is that the dopplers are normal. PP are right there is a bit of variation in scan measurements, but 50th to 3rd is definitely enough to be watching closely. Usually the goal would still be getting through to 37-38 weeks unless there are extra problems - so if the dopplers stay normal then usually baby is better off staying in until then. Things that would mean baby needs to come in the next couple of weeks would be a really big change in dopplers, or if you become unwell - did they talk to you about symptoms of pre eclampsia? There’s about a 50% risk of you developing that in this situation but not all preeclampsia needs immediate delivery either.
Generally past 32 weeks babies do really well if they need to be delivered, and as PP have mentioned even if born small often will catch up after birth.
Most important thing is it’s been picked up - the main problems with small babies come when it’s not been detected.