What does 38 percentile mean

[Mumtobelee]

Been to midwife appointment today because baby was measuring small and they told me to go right to the hospital . However after the scan they told me baby is 38th percentile. What does that mean . Is that good or bad ????? Also they put me on a monitor and said baby was moving a lot but moaned I didn't press the kick button but that's because I don't feel any kicks .

So yeah 38th percentile mean ???

Basically it means if you lined up 100 babies of the same age(well pregnant mother by number of weeks till due in reality) 37 would be smaller than yours and the rest bigger.
I’m no expert but that doesn’t sound too bad me

Yes as Undisclosedlocation has said. It's not that bad at all

Yeao great number.

DS1 was 4th centile and DS2 was 25th centile. But it birth DS1 was average 6pbs and DS2 was massive 8lbs 13oz
So take it with a bucket of salt just a rough estimate.

So is the baby too small? I'm confused because midwife told me under 3rd percentile but scan says otherwise .

The scan is more accurate than the midwife measuring your bump with a tape measure.

If the percentile was given as 38 after the scan then your baby isn't small enough to be considered small for the gestational age. I think that would be lower than the 10th percentile. Even then, they would just keep a bit more of an eye on you.

Basically OP if there were 100 babies all exactly the same age / gestational stage on average there'd be 37 smaller than yours and 62 bigger than yours.

Measuring with a tape on your bump isn't always accurate if that's what the midwife did, but they can be more accurate with a scan (still not an exact science though). My baby was measuring about 50th centile on final scans before birth and was actually 37th centile when he was born a perfectly healthy 6lb 7oz. Some go the other way; measuring smaller than they end up actually being.

How far along are you?

Not to small, just the smaller end of the average range. Out of 100 babies 62 would be bigger, but 37 would be smaller.

26 weeks

Thankyou

So your baby is bigger than 38% of all other babies. I mean it’s smaller than average. But doesn’t mean there’s a problem. It’s very hard to tell with scans. Ideally it grows at a steady rate. Are you small?

So if you take all the babies being born, 100% is the absolute biggest baby born as is bigger than all of the others at 100%.

I had one who measured not even on the chart. She was 7lbs when born (completely normal)

I had one who measured normal.
He was born above the 100th centile, so not on the chart at the other end.

I find the measurements to be taken with a huge pinch of salt, if they are worried they will measure you more regularly ie like with my small one. Which is all good as you feel more looked after. But at 38, that’s a good number and not at any extreme end.

Out of 100 they came 38th. Out of 10 they came 3rd and just missed 4th.

Take the measurements with a pinch of salt
I was apparently around the 50th percentile all the way through which is bang on average but she was born at 38 weeks very small, around the 5th percentile - perfectly healthy just teeny! Family had to rush out to buy tiny baby clothes and prem nappies!

38th percentile is absolutely fine anyway, they pay attention if under 10 or over 90.

Literally no issue, very normal estimated weight. My baby was 6lb 5oz but was 1st centile according to those charts.