Centiles and growth scans

[VioletCookie]

Hi,
We are 23+3 today and had a scan which has caused some concern. I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and what the outcome was? Feeling anxious as we've had 5 prior miscarriages and currently waiting for perinatal counselling, so please no comments about my anxiety/mental health as this is being addressed.

20 week scan showed 53.9 centile
Today's scan showed 33.5 centile
Seems quite a drop in 3 weeks?

No growth of femur length since a private scan we had on the 16th.

Uterine artery blood flow under the bottom of the chart at 0.57, but mean PI is 0.7. Im already on asprin and blood thinners, so unsure how I can help increase this.

Thanks to anyone that can help xx

These measurements are notoriously inaccurate. So many mothers have been told, your baby is big/small, your baby has a huge/tiny head and when the infant arrives it’s perfectly average. One of mine had short femurs, can’t even remember which one now as they’re fine (or at least, have other issues).
Sending hugs as you’re bound to be worried. I hope you have your little one in your arms in due time.

I had scans showing a small baby, and he was very small (1st centile), but perfectly healthy. The good news is that you’re being monitored more closely now so any serious issues can be picked up.

Are you comparing the private scan measurements to the NHS scan? Or have you had an NHS growth scan that is worrying?

@Sproutssproutssprouts @Velvetbee thank you both so much for replying 😊

The centile scans are being compared as NHS to NHS, I didn't realise the centile could drop 20 points in 3 weeks!

The femur length was being compared private to NHS, which I know is naughtybut assumed as its a bine it must be easybto measure as doesnt move? Thank you for the reassurance it doesn't always mean something bad!

Xx

Mine went from 37th to 58th then back down to 34th. They were trying to pressure me into being induced due to declined growth after the third when to me it was obvious that the second measurements were wrong.
They are notoriously inaccurate so I wouldn't worry.
I ended up having a healthy 7lbs 4 oz baby x

It can vary between sonographers, this was the case with my DS. Different sonographers said he had shrunk between 34 and 36 weeks which is obviously not possible. Anyway as I had more regular scans it was easier for them to build up a picture. It was decided he would be small and I had a section at 38 weeks, he was 5lb but only spent a couple of days in hospital. As you’re having lots of scans presumably, they’ll be able to get a good idea of whether or not the weight is accurate.

We also had a private scan at 36 weeks and their measurements were different to the NHS, they used different equipment. Their measurements were actually the most accurate!

Please don't worry.

My 1st baby was 9lbs and I planned a homebirth for my 2nd child. Each scan they said he was huge.

2 weeks before my due date they made me have a scan and side he was going to be over 11lbs! And tried to stop me having a homebirth.

I resisted and had him at home and he was 6lbs 11oz!

The scans can be accurate though. But if they are it’s most likely something that can be managed. What’s their plan @VioletCookie? one piece of advice I can give is to make sure you’re always pushing for a plan on what they’re going to do. There wasn’t a clear plan in place for my DS until I had a 4th growth scan at 38 weeks and then they wanted to do a section the next day which was a rush, I wish and the midwives said there should have been proper plans in place.

If they have worries, they should book you for extra scans. I was having extra scans due to high uterine pressure (i think?) for DD1 and her growth centiles went from something like 75th to 50th to 20th to 9th. The 9th was identified at 36w and so a plan for either induction or section was made for 39w. She came of her own accord at 38w and was 5lbs 12oz so it was fairly accurate in my case. But either way, noone was really worried until she dropped below the 10th centile. Once Christmas is over, I agree with pp, that it might be worth having a chat with your midwife about what is happening next (even if they say its just monitoring until a scan etc).

Again, thank you all so much for the words of wisdom/support!

@lemonsherbert86 I'm glad all was ok for you, yes seems the 2nd measurement wasn't too accurate! I didn't realise they could be so out.

@Sproutssproutssprouts no plan as of yet! My placenta is currently not covering but touching my cervix, so the consultant wants to wait until 32 weeks and if it hasn't moved book a c section. That's all I know so far! Growth wise they didn't seem bothered, they also weren't concerned about my PI being under the bottom threshold! But I know they're the experts and I'm just using Google for everything so can't really question them.

@Rosbeet that's so reasuring, thank you. So pleased you trusted your gut and were able to go with plan A!

@CrispAppleStrudels thank you, I'm pleased it worked out OK for you. I'll definitely ask the midwife for chat in the NY. Need to check when my next appt is with them and if a while away I'll try to book a call in. We've never been past the first trimester before so all these centiles and seeing big drops/less growth is new to us and can feel quite overwhelming!