Baby dropped down centiles at 35 week scan

[minnieot]

Hi, I have really bad perinatal anxiety so I've driven myself into a panic that my baby's growth is tapering off. Does this sound normal?

28 weeks: 89th centile
30 weeks: 92nd centile
32 weeks: 87th centile
35 weeks: 82nd centile

The midwife said it's still normal growth but I'm just worried that he's dropped off of his curve a bit and worried about his growth tapering off as it seems like a lot to drop 10 whole centiles within the space of a month. I know he's still measuring above average which should reassure me but I'm more just scared of his growth slowing down or something and I've been worried the past couple weeks anyway as my bump is still really small and everybody comments on it. :(

Did you post about this before? My eldest DD dropped down the centiles and they offered to be induced - she went from 75th to 50th to 25th to 9th between 28w and 36w. So she dropped over 60 centile points. Based on my experience, they would not in any way be worried about a centile change that is within 10 centile points.

Have you spoken to your MW about your anxiety? The time up to and immediately after the birth can be really tricky - if you can get support now, it will hugely help in the postnatal period as well.

@CrispAppleStrudels I've posted similar before after a private scan but specifically was just worrying about my NHS ones today.

Thank you so much and I'm sorry you had that experience, it must have been really worrying, was your baby all okay when born?

I am seeing the mental health midwife but still just struggling with overthinking every little thing, even when people try to reassure me a million times x

this is normal. Such small differences. The scan measurement is an estimate anyway

We dropped at 36 week scan and were advised to be induced at 37 weeks on the dot! They then rescanned a few days later and they measurements had gone back up!

Im sure if the professionals were concerned they would tell you!!

These difference are tiny, probably almost imperceptible. Try not to worry.

From a size perspective, she was absolutely fine - just a bit little and sleepy so we had to be vigilant about making sure she fed every 2hrs. She was 2.6kg and born at 38w. She's now something like 65th for weight and 80th for height at 3yrs old so has properly caught up to me and DH (5'8 and 6'2). She had some other health issues when she was born, but they weren't to do with her size - she had an infection, but she is perfectly fine now.

Glad you have a MH midwife. It is such a worrying time but do make sure you seek out additional help if you need it. Maybe mention to your MH MW that you are still ruminating a lot and she might be able to suggest something different to try and help.

This is absolutely fine, there is no need to be concerned with this level of growth decline. It could just be that your baby grew very quickly earlier on and is slowing down a bit now. If your baby was dropping more than 25 centiles then there would be more cause for concern but this level is within normal limits. Have they checked your uterine dopplers? They usually do on growth scans and this would signal if there was a problem with the blood flow between baby and placenta which could impede growth. If the sonographers and midwives aren't concerned then please try and take there word for it. Wishing you all the best for the remainder of your pregnancy.

Please go back and read the replies on your first thread, and then do please speak with your midwife about getting some additional support for your anxiety. Everything is fine with your baby.