Deepest pool over 8cm

[katpw]

Hello, went for a private scan yesterday (26 weeks) and they found excess fluid- the deepest pool of fluid is 8.3cm. Has anyone had a similar experience? I’m petrified. Thanks

I had excess fluid (polyhydromnios) I was told that if my waters broke at home I'd need to go straight in due to risk of cord prolapse, I ended up being induced, so mine were broken at the hospital in theatre as baby wasn't engaged and again in case of cord prolapse. This didn't happen and once broken I went back on the labour ward and DD arrived 5 hours later. My bump was pretty big by the end.

I think it can be a symptom of gestational diabetes so could try asking to be retested as it can develop in later pregnancy. It disappears after birth but means you had to be careful whilst pregnant with diet

I had 8.2 at my first growth scan. They diagnosed gestational diabetes after a week of finger prick testing. Was borderline and has been diet controlled pretty easily. This was 34 weeks, I’d passed the GTT at 26 weeks. At subsequent growth scans the fluid was back down to high 7s. I’m having an elective section so there’s no concern about cord prolapse with me. Have they mentioned GD?

Thanks for your reply. When was your first growth scan/how come you had one? I was tested for GD around 24 weeks due to family history but it came back clear. Not sure how I could get tested again without symptoms? I’m hoping it’s something like that as google has made me worry about all the other causes. At what week are you having an elective c-section? Thank you!

Thank you! I’ll ask to be re-tested as it came back as ‘normal’ a couple of weeks ago.

Thank you. At what point were you induced?

Did they check each quarter? I had a very deep pool at 36 weeks with DC2. I can't remember how deep, but it would immediately have been considered polyhydraminos. I had passed the GTT at 28 weeks, so that was a bit of a shock.

But then the sonographer checked deepest pools in 4 quarters around baby to check average depth. It was just because baby was breech (another shock...) and snuggled up against my back that made one deep pool. But taking the average showed there was actually a perfectly ordinary amount of fluid.

Hope that is the case for you too.

Thank you. No, they only made a note of the deepest- they didn’t mention the average. I’ve called my midwife this morning to try and get a referral but apparently they can’t take information from a private scan…. (I’m UK based) so not sure what to do next!!

You should be able to go into MAU for a check based on the private scan findings. I had the opposite problem at 32wks, went for a private reassurance scan that showed low amniotic fluid based on AFI so got referred back to the hospital who saw me that same day. Ended up having an NHS scan a few days later so they can have these findings on their system which showed deepest pool measurements were within range at 3.8mm (I think the confusion came from the private clinic still using the AFI measurement which is apparently outdated these days). Wishing you the best of luck, as I know how scary it can be when you get findings like this x

I had this, my deepest pool was something like 10.6 cm found at 32 weeks. They sent me for a glucose tolerance test which came back clear, and when I went for a further scan at 34 weeks the poly had cleared itself and my waters were back within normal levels. Sonographer said that’s quite common for levels to rise and fall, hopefully same happens for you.

Hi, I had this. Was scanned due to previous big baby and it was picked up. Deepest pool at one point was 11cm. Had a repeat gd test - negative. Was scanned every 2 weeks and it continued up until 39 weeks when I went in for a scan and it measured 5cm! Well within normal. Try not to worry. Read up ok the risks, but even with the amount of waters I had, my home birth midwives were still happy to do a home birth (albeit out of guidance) and were not overly worried. Consultant said big babies often have more waters. They worry more if it is a small baby and lots of waters.

Thank you! Are you UK based? I called my hospital today but they said I’d have to go through the midwife to get a scan. I spoke to the midwife who said I have to see her first before she can refer me for a scan- the next appointment is next Friday! Is the outdated AFI measurement the largest pool or the average do you mean? Thanks

@katpw yep UK based, I just called MAU explained the findings from the private scan and they asked to see me that afternoon. AFI is average of the 4 quadrants, DVP is the current way the NHS measure amniotic fluid, or at least that’s the case at our hospital, but results can be impacted by baby’s position etc so try not to worry too much.

@Dyra forgot to tag you!

@Pheepa forgot to tag you!

@PointyMcguire thanks. Worrying that there’s such a difference in urgency between hospitals. It’s likely to be a couple of weeks at least until I get a scan. Unless less amniotic fluid is seen as more of an emergency than too much?! So you’d think the average is more accurate? Annoyingly they didn’t provide us with the other 3 figures.. just the largest! Will call the hospital again tomorrow but I’m not confident I’ll be able to get a scan 😩

@annlee3817 thank you. Were you induced because you went past your due date, or because of the excess fluid? If so, at what week were you induced? Thanks

I had my twins nearly 3 weeks ago and had excess fluid. I didn't get excess fluid until around 34 weeks but had GD. Consultant said it's likely to be from the GD and at my last scan at 36 weeks I didn't have excess fluid anymore 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Also consultant said more fluid gives baby more room to wriggle around in so might not in engage when babies usually do.

@PinkButtercups thank you! And congratulations on your twins ☺️ my GD test came back negative a couple of weeks ago but might try and get re-tested as I think I’d be less anxious if I knew the cause of the excess fluid wasn’t anything majorly serious.. 😢

I had excess fluid in my second pregnancy, probably also in my first but we just didn’t know. I had really big babies both times, so in my case it was just big babies = lots of fluid. I was induced on my due date with my second due to combination of size and excess fluid. All went well, they were both just huge bastards!

@katpw it’s so odd, I’d have thought they’d be similar concerns tbh. DH and I said the same about the average surely being more reliable, even when we had our NHS scan the sonographer said there might be deeper pools but she couldn’t measure them as there were limbs/umbilical cord in the way so it’s clearly not an exact science either way.

@edgeware haha that’s funny. At what point do you know they’re ‘really big’? I’m 26 weeks and she was measuring as the attached recently- could that explain the excess fluid or would she be bigger? Did you have regular scans because of the fluid? If so, how often? Thanks.

@PointyMcguire ahh finding it all so frightening. Thought they’d want to reassure me but just feels like they don’t really care 😩

@katpw I know how you feel, I was so terrified by the whole thing. Fortunately the upshot has been extra growth scans which has helped reassure me a bit.