32 weeks : completely normal fundal height but very low baby weight

[michgross]

The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind but it looks like my wife who is 32 weeks pregnant has pre-eclampsia (protein in urine and high blood pressure) and the ultrasound measurements showed a baby weight that was in the <1 percentile. One think that I've just remembered is that our midwife has done a fundal height measurement on at least 2 occasions (one very recently) and the reading has always sat perfectly on the median line. I thought that measurement was to check that the baby was growing normally so we're confused now and it's something that we need to ask the doctor tomorrow. But I was wondering if anyone here knows whether this disparity is normal?

Fundal height isn't hugely accurate. Depends on how the baby is lying, a woman's body shape, how much amniotic fluid there is, if you've had a different MW, they may measure slightly differently. It's a rough guide which may trigger a growth scan if under or over the 3 lines on the graph.

The fundal height measurements aren’t accurate - mine always came up too big and I kept getting sent for growth scans, but baby was always bang on the 50th centile, I just carried big.
Hope you and your wife are doing OK, sounds like a stressful time.

Fundal height is a (very inaccurate) measure of ‘the uterus and it’s contents’ rather than the size of the baby.