Fundal height at 24 weeks

[SaP89]

Hi all,

Had my midwife appointment today and first time she's measured my bump.

She said afterwards that she was about to plot it on the graph but she had a feeling it might flag me up for a growth scan just cos it's on the small side.

When she plotted it, it didn't, but she did say I'm right on the edge. She said she had no concerns or worries, cos I'm a petite person so said it's normal to have a petite bump (5ft4 and a Uk 8/10 before pregnancy) there was also a nice string heartbeat and she'll just measure again around 27 weeks.

On my notes it says 24cm but from googling that seems bang on for me at 24+2 so I'm a little confused why that would be small?

This is a pic of my custom growth chart if anyone can shed any light?

She said no concerns but I'm a natural worrier so have booked a private scan just to check on baby. All my other scans (12/16/20) have all measured where they should be.

Tia for any help :-)

The blue shaded part is what's considered the "normal" range. So the bottom of the blue shaded part is the 1st centile and the top is the 100th. It means that on average out of 100 women your bump as at today is measuring slightly below all of those women.

But fundal height is notoriously inaccurate both in terms of getting an accurate measurement and in terms of what it actually says about the size of the baby. She told you not to worry because she genuinely means you don't need to worry. Small bumps usually mean nothing at all, particularly at 24 weeks when you're still early to be measuring the bump at all.

Thank you so much for this.

Yeah I guess it just confuses me because when you Google where you should be it says 24 weeks could be anything between 23-25 so 24 seems good? But like you say it appears I sit below the "normal range" according to the chart? 🤷‍♀️

But yeah I'm going to try and not worry and take her word for it! And also enjoy the scan on Tuesday as I'm taking my mum for the first time too.

Baby is very very active today too so hopefully it's all a good sign! 🤞

I've always been told that the CMS correlate to the week of pregnancy, allowing around 2 weeks leniency. I tend to never measure on track, usually behind but then at growth scans baby measures ahead. This is with both my babies x

Try not to worry. If they were really worried they'd have escalated things. I had endless professionals (and my mother) worry about my 'small bump' and gave birth to a perfectly healthy 7lb13 baby. I just hasn't put on much weight and was back in my normal clothes within a few days. I'm sure all will be fine :)

I’ve attached my growth chart so you can see how wildly fluctuant they can be.

Measured small at 24 weeks so needed a growth scan (green cross) which plotted him at around 75th centile. I’m told every day how neat my bump is for 30 weeks but because he was sticking his bum out I nearly triggered a growth scan for being a big baby. Even my midwife was like that’s practically all bum! 🤣

It’s really not an accurate measure of growth and at my 20 week scan the sonographer actually told me I would almost certainly be back for a growth scan because of my smaller frame. I’m 5ft 7 though so think that’s why I triggered a growth scan initially despite being on the very edge.

Basically try not to worry, hopefully by your next measurement you will have caught up a wee bit and if not then you will get to see baby again courtesy of the NHS. Just be warned i was in and out in 3 mins with my growth scan…they mean business with them 🤣

This is what I thought too which is why I was surprised I was below the average considering I'm 24 weeks and measured 24cm 🤷‍♀️

Thank you!

Yes hoping that's the case - just a smaller bump! I'm quite small framed and only really just started showing these last 2 weeks so hopefully it was just a little early!

Thank you so much for sharing this.

It is interesting to see how different it can be!

I'm not tall so quite the opposite 😂 but very small framed and "little" so the midwife said I wouldn't necessarily have the biggest bump yet anyway 🤷‍♀️

Yeah I've booked a private one now just for some reassurance next week so hopefully she's measuring all ok 🤞 and then even if they send me for one at my next MW appointment I'll hopefully have a bit of peace of mind having already seen baby recently 🤞

What a worry this can be!!

@SaP89 I was the same. No discernible bump until 24 weeks apart from some evenings if I was bloated. Everyone carries differently!

Yeah I've been like that the whole time until this last week so maybe it was just a bit too early?

My midwife measured mine at 24 weeks and said it's 27 weeks, then measured again a minute later and corrected it to 24+4. So I think it's notoriously inaccurate and I wouldn't worry!

Just to update for anyone in similar scenarios in the future.

I had my private scan today and she's measuring exactly as she should. Bang in the middle for all the individual charts.

The sonography's thought it could be because she's lying sideways that my bump is measuring small at the moment but she said is as it should be.

Unless my bump massively grows, I imagine my midwife might still measure me small again in 2 weeks but at least I can feel a bit better knowing the measurements now are all ok! X