38weeks & potential big baby…

[Jonesh93]

Hi,

I’m new here, long time reader but never posted before. Up until the 38w mark everything has been ok, but the fundal height measurement has shot up considerably on the growth chart. The midwife put this as “increased growth velocity” and booked me in for an emergency consultant appointment and growth scan the next day.

I turned up and the consultant really just said to me “oh you’re having a big baby!”, re-read my midwife notes to me and said that the growth scan was never actually booked … so I’d have to wait for a call, book a growth scan, then come back.

I contacted my midwife to tell her the emergency scan didn’t go ahead, but she’s now on annual leave and couldn’t solve the issue - just to try another midwife.

At 38w+4 day now, I don’t really have the luxury of time on my side. I’d much rather have an induction now or csection if there was a consensus he was likely to be big (I know these things aren’t accurate, but I’d rather that than a complicated labour. I had a difficult first birth with a much smaller, early born baby. The consultant said having a big baby isn’t a problem, but I’m extremely petite and worried about potential injuries to both me and baby from past experience and gut feeling).

Maybe I’m thinking into it too much because I feel so anxious now, but I have no idea where to go from here? It seems unlikely I’ll get the scan before I give birth, so I can’t make an informed decision about the birth… I really just feel like I’ve been left to it…

Sorry for the rant, arrgh

Could you pay for a private growth scan? I went for one today as they didn’t send me on NHS. Was measuring 2 weeks ahead and apparently the only send you for a growth scan in my area if you are 3 weeks ahead. It helped to put my mind at rest - he is actually only slightly above average at 6.7 lb at 36 weeks. If he was more like 8.7 lb or more I would have been demanding an induction or opt for c-section. It’s better to know where you are at.

I've no advice OP, but you're not alone.

I've been going through this for the past 6 weeks in Scotland. At 33 weeks i was measuring 39 weeks and my midwife has now referred me twice for an urgent growth scan. I then get to the hospital to be told that they won't check growth just my waters as i don't meet criteria i.e. i'm not over 40 and don't have gestational diabetes and "they don't care about big babies, just small ones". I care about what kind of labour i'm going to have though.

Try not to worry OP, it may be the case that they'd rather not let you go overdue but you've still got over a week until you get to that point and a larger baby alone is not usually an indication for an eay induction.
Try and focus on the things you can control for now, Try walking or colostrum harvesting to try and bring your labour on yourself, get batch cooking, and enjoy as many naps as you can!

There should be a midwife providing cover for your usual one whilst she's on annual leave – can you ring her, or perhaps the general midwife team number if you have one, and get them to book the scan? Just to warn you, my understanding is that growth scans get less accurate near the end, as it's hard to get a good measurement with baby squished up.

In terms of the birth, I had similar (only I did get a growth scan at 38w, which said baby wasn't that large after all). Baby was in fact that large when they were born, but their size didn't cause any problems, despite me also being quite petite. That said, I think it depends some on how they are large. DD1 was long but relatively lean, so not the same risks as a very large head or shoulders.

@Lauren0902, I'm also in Scotland, and, as I said, did get a growth scan on the basis of a suspected large baby, so your hospital definitely can do better! I've actually just had DD2, and had regular growth scans with her on the basis of DD1 being large. Even though DD1's size hadn't caused any problems, they wanted better information with DD2. That said, I'm not sure how you persuade the hospital to do better. Possibly see what the RCOG say about best practice for suspected large babies and quote that at them if they say anything helpful?

The fundal height measurements can be wildly inaccurate, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll have a large baby! I was always measuring big, I saw a couple of consultants for other reasons who asked me if DH was tall (as I'm only 5'3). I ended up going for a growth scan at 36 weeks which said baby was 6lb7oz, I gave birth 10 days later and DS was 7lb7oz so the growth scan was more accurate than the fundal height measurements!

I had a growth scan at 39+3 and they told me baby was 8lbs so no concerns, he was born the next day at 10lbs. I made them weigh him again because I thought they'd got it wrong.

It was actually an incredibly easy birth, 4 hours from waters breaking spontaneously and labour starting to him being born. I did it on gas and air.

This is obviously anecdotal, but I don't think big babies automatically equal a traumatic birth.

Fundamental height measurements aren't always accurate. Mine was on the 90th centile all the way through my pregnancy. Baby weighed in at 5lb12oz and under the 10th centile. I ended up with a 3rd degree tear whilst my friend had a 9lber and no damage at all. Size really doesn't matter in these things.

Probably worth waiting for the growth scan. They're supposed to be more accurate than fundal measurements (though the last growth scan I had they said it was +/- 1 pound which is a massive margin of error!)
My friend just had her fundal height measured at 40 + 5 & they said it'd increased massively and the baby was going to be huge so they induced her (which ended in an EMCS) and the baby was born 41 weeks at 7lb 7oz, so smaller than the average baby at that gestation!
If you're that worried though & just want a c section for peace of mind, then just ask to be referred to a consultant to request it. There's still theoretically plenty of time, statistically most babies are born after their due date & even if you go into labour you could still go to the hospital and ask for a c section before you progress.