Drop in baby’s AC percentile

[Nella1234]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone could help as I’m extremely anxious and worried. I had a growth scan last week (28+3) due to a second episode of reduced movement. This was my first growth scan and they told me that baby’s abdominal circumference dropped from 72% to 46% and so booked me in for another growth scan in 2 weeks and an appointment with a consultant. Im extremely worried thinking that my baby has stopped growing etc, has anyone been in a similar situation? Thank you

Happened to me at my 36w growth scan. Re-scanned by FMU 4 days later and it was all back to normal growth trajectory. I wouldn't worry too much if all the other indicators (HC, FL, AFI, placenta blood flows, baby movements) were fine. Sometimes babies are just in a tricky position to be properly measured.

Also if they are really very concerned about the baby's wellbeing (as in my case) they'd book you another scan with FMU very soon (mine was done 4 days later) rather than letting you wait for 2 weeks.

Do keep closely monitoring your baby's movements. Good luck!

Thank you! They told me they couldn’t book me in any sooner as they won’t be able to measure the growth pattern etc and need to give him some time to show change/grow. All the other measurements were fine but I’m getting very anxious especially as I had 2 episodes of reduced movement now.

Sounds like they are just giving you another regular growth scan (those ones need to be at least two weeks apart) rather than any special ones (usually with Fetal Medicine Unit) to check for potential anomalies.

Baby's growth patterns do fluctuate a bit so try not to worry too much. If the placenta is functioning well and you feel baby movements every day then things should be fine.

Were you CTG monitoring results all good? I had two episodes of reduced fetal movements by 30w as well. Both times the baby became very active as soon as being put on CTG and results were both normal. In hindsight I think it was just me trying to get used to the baby's "pattern" which was esp tricky as he is a very active baby and usually moves loads. Then I learned that he can have relatively quiet times during the day, so I only get concerned if he misses two or more (rather than just one) times in a day when he's supposed to be active (usually after lunch, 5-6pm, then 10-11pm).

But do keep going in to get monitored if you are concerned in any way. Better to get reassured than sitting at home worrying yourself about it.

Thank you, that’s really helpful! Yes my CTG results came back fine, baby started moving as soon as I was connected to the machine. I also had a doppler check during my scan and that also came back fine. The reason I went in with reduced movement is because he is usually very active in the evening and it would usually take up to 10 minutes to feel 10 kicks whereas the two nights I was concerned it took approximately an hour. I have an anterior placenta as well which doesn’t help but I’m now thinking, were they reduced movements or did he just have a quiet evening? His movements are back to normal now though and very active in the evening