OCTOBER 2024 BABIES - Thread 4

[CluelessInLondon]

Just getting another thread going as we are about to run out of space on the old one - hope nobody minds me taking the initiative on it!

Previous thread here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/pregnancy/5028774-october-2024-babies-thread-3

It’s standard procedure in my trust if baby is over 90th centile

Just had a midwife appointment.

Baby is engaged head down now in a flap that I will make it to my c-section 1 week 3 days to go.....

@spudnik1 If it helps, mine has been head down since my 34 week midwife appointment and engaged since 36 weeks - I'm past 38 now and no sign of baby appearing yet, so they can stay engaged a long time without actually going into labour!

@CluelessInLondon, thanks.
I have been having on and off contractions as well though 🙈 but I am sure they were brought on by colostrum harvesting, which I have stopped now.
Either way, there isn't anything I can do about the whole situation.

Midwife just said if you have 2 contractions in 10 minutes to phone triage, tell them you have a section booked and have gone into labour.

It's interesting to me just how many of us in this thread have been told we have baby's above 90th percentile. It doesn't make sense mathematically for this to be the case. I wonder of the parameters need to change for modern society and how many of us woll actually have big babies.

@Sara1988 does your Trust use customised growth charts? A lot of hospitals used customised growth charts now so then centiles aren't the same for each chart. They use data like your ethnicity and BMI at booking to predict what should be 'normal' for you as an individual. So 90+th centile for a petite woman on their chart is going to be a much lower weight than 90th centile for a very tall woman with a high BMI at booking. They can both be told they are 90th centile but the actual weights predicted will be very different.

Also @spudnik1 I would try not to worry about engagement on its own. First babies usually engage before term and stay that way for often many many weeks before labour. Second + babies can engage and 'pop out' repeatedly for weeks and weeks too. My MW said on its own it's not a sign of labour being close in either situation.

I'm not sure actually. My baby was 6lbs 13oz at 36 weeks and 92nd percentile but no one has mentioned induction or cesarean.

But my point is more that 90th percentile suggest the baby is in the top 10%... but so many of us in here have been told the same thing. Doesn't make sense.

It means the baby was 92nd percentile for you. Are you short? Low BMI etc?

@AppleTree16 I'm 5'7 with a BMI 35.

That's not what I'm really getting at though.

90th percentile means top 10%... more than 10% of the women in this group have been told they have large babies. So have more than 10% of my pregnant friends. Doesn't make statistical sense.

@Sara1988 that's why I asked if the growth chart is customised though - the centile you're being given isnt 92nd centile of all women, if it's a customised chart. It's more like 92nd centile of women of your ethnicity and BMI. Does that make sense? And for people like me on their third baby they use the previous baby's weights as well. So my baby at last scan was something like 32nd centile, but that means 32nd centile of someone with my BMI, similar mixed ethnic background, and with two previous children who were X and y weights at birth. Not 32nd centile of all women in the UK. Hope that makes sense? It can all be very confusing!

@WeightoftheWorld that's really interesting. I've never heard of customised growth charts. I assumed the charts were National average. I'm going to ask my midwife at the next appointment if my one is bespoke.

@WeightoftheWorld yeah I get what you're saying but it's still a case of percentages. Percentiles should include a spread by their very nature but I'm seeing an enormous amount of women in the 90+ percentile.

I've been thinking the same @Sara1988 Mine is over 97th (was estimated as 8lb 1 at 36 week scan) and my sister and sister in law both had similar (despite one being very petite and the other quite tall). My husband and I were talking about it the other day and wondered if a higher percentage of women having elective c sections or being pushed towards earlier inductions could skew the statistics a bit. That or maybe they publish predictions on the higher end just in case. For my sister in law her predictions were accurate, but my sister's weren't at all...he just had really long legs.

@SuenoNB you hear far, far more often of women with large babies lately. Our hospital has a c-section rate of 50% which is baffling to me. I just wonder how often they update these numbers. It's quite normal to hear of 9lb babies now, but less so 6lb ones, which wasn't the case 30 years ago.

I've got a personal growth chart, my BMI at booking was 26 and my baby has sat between the 10th and 50th centile since they started measuring my bump, I know it's not completely accurate and still could end up with a big baby!

Had an antenatal class tonight and half the room told they have a 'big baby.'

Anyone else currently got Covid ?

@mrssunshinexxx I've recently recovered from it. Cough stuck around for ages. Hope you make a which recovery!

My.baby is being measured at >99th percentile. If its the same at next week's growth scan they're going to move my section forward. Two negative GTTs so prob just a big baby for my height weight ratio. Both my others were 50th percentile the entire way through.

Tbh I'm absolutely fine withtan early eviction. I'd rather baby be out where I can control the environment and keep baby safe.

Mines actually the 20th percentile so bucking the trend here! @mrssunshinexxx poor you - i had covid a few weeks ago and it made me exhausted ages. Hope you feel better soon!

It's a shame ill miss the vaccine as c section booked at the end of September and they are rolling them out from 3rd of October i belive.

@mrssunshinexxx I think I may do or a flu of some sort, not feeling great!

It’s 1st Sep for pregnant women and 3rd October for all other groups. I had to call around quite a few pharmacies to find one with stock in so having mine tomorrow!

@RobynC28 I had my flu vaccine today when they gave me the RSV so they definitely are doing them for pregnant women. Maybe try to get an appointment for that one if you can and then ask...the leaflet they gave me made it seem like standard practise to offer others at the same time.