Fundal growth height

[LaddieCthulu]

Hi everyone,

I had my 28 week midwife appt 2 weeks ago. My midwife is really dopey, I will spare you the list of reasons I say that...

But she measured my abdomen, and then we went back to sit by the desk and she typed some notes. I had to ask her what she just did. This is my first baby, of course I could work out she was measuring the baby but she gave no explanation as to what she was doing or what anything meant. She just said "it's 27", and again I was left asking what that meant and she said baby was in the normal range. Didn't show me anything on a graph which my friend later said she should have done.

I only just saw that she added this datato the nhs maternity app and it shows on a graph. When I look at the graph, baby appears to be around 25-30th percentile.

I am going to be 40 when baby arrives, have been anemic (not severely) throughout pregnancy until tge last blood test, have had two UTI's and one was treated incorrectly and so lingered on. I have gained a but less weight than I would have (although midwife didn't ask about my weight at last appt). This is all just for context, technically all of this coukd affect baby growth i think. Not sure what is helpful to share!

I am just wondering if its best to wait until the next scan in a few weeks times and suspend my question until then or call and ask more sbout this?

I am not super worried, just a little...I just want to make sure I am following up appts when I should. I had a nurse prescribe me the wrong dose of antibiotics in my first trimester so I suppose I feel like I have to double check advice.

Thanks everyone :)

My (largely uneducated) understanding is that the use of fundal height is more to check you are growing. So just one measurement doesn't tell you that much. It's fine to be on a lower centile (as long as with normal), but they want to see that you stay about that centile. They are also pretty subjective to the measurer. I got sent for a growth scan because my fundal height measurement didn't go up as much as expected. So I think what I'm saying is I'm not sure that they could/would tell you much more on the basis of one measurement. But I would always advocate asking questions when you are unsure.

It's notoriously unreliable. You'll get more of an idea at your growth scan.

Thanks both of you, that's really helpful. When do I get a growth scan?!

You don't get a growth scan unless you have reason to need one. They'll take your measurement at every midwife appointment now and plot it on the same graph, they're looking to make sure baby is following the curve and not measuring too big/small. If they have concerns over baby's growth or size then they'll refer you for a scan.

I'm 37 weeks pregnant with my second and had my midwife appointment today, they plotted my graph and it shows that baby hasn't grown and has dropped on the curve so I've to go in tomorrow for a scan to check her growth

I was paranoid about the fundal measurements to the point where it actually impacted my youngest dd's birth. I was measuring big each time and towards the end decided to try to predict my baby's birth weight following the curve. She would have been pretty big! Possibly off the chart if I'm remembering correctly. So I basically ended up being terrified about pushing this imaginary monster baby out, to the point where I actually tried to not push at all. In the end I was kindly told to get a grip as my baby actually needed to be born and she arrived minutes later, just under 9lb and not a monster at all very hairy though. And my worries about doing myself some kind of epic downstairs damage did not come to pass.

In short, I wish I'd ignored that little chart completely.

Just realised I said "scan" in my earlier message... I meant "appointment". Sorry that is so confusing... Can I blame that on baby brain?

@Lou98 Thank you, that's rrwlly helpful info. I hope your scan goes well tomorrow. It's good they aren't making you wait long.
@winniesanderson the hair comment made me chuckle. Thanks that's great to know.

I had read that the measurements were not always accurate, this is all reassuring. I shall await the next measurement.

It's normally a cm for every week of your pregnancy give or take up to 3cm so 27cm is absolutely fine. In my last pregnancy I was always measuring 3cm ahead every appointment but it was consistent (at least it was every time it was my midwife measuring). The issue is when you have different people measuring, I had a consultant measure me twice at 3cm smaller than my midwife last had so it looked like I'd shrunk.
You only get a growth scan if there is a reason to, eg your FH is off the charts or hasn't grown since your last appointment. Measurements can be wildly inaccurate though. People say the same about growth scans though however ime mine was more or less spot on. Baby was born 11 days later at 14oz heavier than the growth scan - at the end they normally say baby puts on around 1/2 a lb a week.

Oh and I had 10 weeks of recurrent UTIs in this pregnancy and it didn't effect the growth of my baby so don't fixate on it. Also if my ferritin level was 1 lower I would have been classed as anaemic, again it didn't affect growth.