Low Amniotic fluid but no extra scans?

[Smurftastic]

Had a growth scan over a week ago at 28+1. Was told baby is small but fine, thought not much of it until I looked at my notes. My AFI is only 5.3. Surely that's very low and on the verge of polyhydramnios? No extra scans were mentioned at all, next midwife appointment is at 34 weeks! I tried to call the midwife and the hospital and they basically said they don't know and call MAU if baby stops kicking . I see women getting weekly check-up scans with API of 7. Has anyone had experience with something like this?

I had a growth scan at 29 weeks and was told normal fluid level is between 3 and 10? Mine was 3.9 which she wasn't concerned about

Do you remember what it was called? I'm wondering if I'm reading my notes wrong so that's why I called the midwife, but nobody really wanted to talk to me. Mine says AFI deepest pool 5.3cm. So I don't know if it's the same as AFI which is the sum of pools (range 5-25, anything under 8 considered low, under 5 polyhydramnios) or a different thing with single deepest one! I wish I could talk to a midwife and have it explained but no joy. I'd be ok to wait if my next appointment was at 31 weeks but since it's my second child it's at 34 weeks.

Now I'm reading what I wrote it seems like it means a single deepest pool was measured, not a sum of all of them, which would probably put me in a normal range

My Trust measures single deepest pool too - which isn't the sum of all of the pools, so wouldn't put you at risk of polyhydramnios, and that'd explain why you're not getting extra scans.

I'm sorry that's been poorly explained, though! I've found it tough too - if I didn't have friends who had done pregnancy/birth before, I'd have been a bit lost at times. There seems to be so much that you're expected to know, even as a FTM.

I can't remember what she called it to be honest, sorry. I just remember when she was measuring she said "3.9 and normal is 3 to 10 so that's fine"

Just FYI, Polyhydramnios is too much water, oligohydramnios, not enough, anhydramnios none. If you’d like to speak to someone earlier you could ring the hospital antenatal clinic directly rather than the community midwives and perhaps get a quicker explanation/ interpretation of your scan report?

@SwayingInTime yes of course, I got it mixed up! I called the clinic as well and they just got a midwife to talk to me, who said she doesn't know!

@TakeYourFinalPosition that would make more sense then. Sometimes knowing a little is the worst, as it's not enough to understand it but enough to worry. If other trusts measure just the single deepest pool mine is possibly doing the same.... so if my deepest one is 5.3 it would put me in a normal range no matter what the other ones are.

@Merrz thank you, I think it would make sense if it was the ' single deepest pool' method as well that you had, as the AFI internet says about is a sum of 4 pools, hence different normal range.

I just had a growth scan at 25 weeks and mine only recorded single deepest pool too

I've two lines on my notes: 'Amniotic fluid normal with maximum vertical pocket' and 'AFI deepest pool 5.3cm'. From what I understand 'maximum vertical pocket' and 'AFI' are two different methods of measuring it. The 'AFI deepest pool' is just different than just 'AFI' I suppose. That's it for me googling things . I would much prefer being able to discuss my results with someone. Trusting my hospital trust comes at a great cost as they faffed up my care in this pregnancy several times already!

The deepest pool is just one quadrant. The AFI is the combination of 4 pools. AFI average is 14 mine has been 8-10 before so I’ve read a lot on it but it’s 13 now. My deepest pools are usually 3 or 4 so 5 sounds good!

@BabyC21 this makes more sense. This way it's seems my measurement is slightly above average, not below. You seem to know more than the midwives I talked to! Thank you all, I think I saved myself nearly £100 on a private scan.

@Smurftastic nobody is more armed with information than a pregnant women who worries a lot 🙈🙈