Freaking out! 40+1 scan - head small and OFD seems to have gone down?

[Overdueandworried]

Hi all, I am 40+1 weeks today with my first baby, a girl and had a growth scan. Her head circumference seems to have fallen off average centiles and is now way below average and i think is under 10th centile. Her OFD measurement which seems to be another head measurement has actually decreased. Does anyone know if this is possible that her head’s development would suddenly stop or even go backwards in the space of 4 weeks? Aware I probably sound absolutely unhinged here but nobody to ask. Googling has got me freaking out that baby will have Microcephaly or worse. Is it possible sonographer just didn’t get a good look at the head as baby is now so low? Nothing was flagged in the appointment other than very long legs! Details of measurements at 36w v 40w in images below. I was initially just shocked at having to give birth to a min 8.14lb baby and now I fear things may be much worse. Any advice or reassurance very welcome 😢 thank you

I’m definitely not an expert I didn’t want to read and run but at 40+1 any issues would have been seen by now. You’re just worrying which is natural. You’ll soon have your perfect little baby daughter in your arms😌.

Hello! I had the exact same freak out at 34 weeks. My daughter’s head was measuring in the 5th percentile. I was terrified. She was actually born a week later (early birth unrelated to her ‘small’ head!) and she’s totally fine. Scans so close to birth are really inaccurate for measurements! I know it’s hard but please don’t worry.

Towards the end, those measurements are really quite difficult to see. Especially head if down. Have midwives said they are worried?
we were told my little one was totally giant but he arrived at an acceptable 7 pounds 10 and on 50th centile.
midwives are always worth a call if you are really worried. Big breaths and few more days.

Is this saying in 4 weeks her head shrunk by 6mm? Surely that's not possible. Even if she had a smaller head, it couldn't shrink like that. I don't think these scans are that reliable, they predict big baby's all the time and the women have below average babies.

I would ask your midwife but I don't think you have anything to worry about. I think maybe one of the scans was inaccurate, it's gone from 50th to 10th percentile but its only 6mm. That's a really tiny measurement to make on an ultrasound scan, so they could easily have erred on the higher size last time and the lower this time, and it looks like much more on the percentile charts.

Thanks all, I have a midwife appointment tomorrow so I will talk to her about all of this I just wasn’t sure if this is something that is normal or not. I am super anxious about everything coming up anyway so I guess I’m just freaking myself out :(

Yeah it’s saying her head has got smaller somehow! I do think possibly it’s harder for them to get a good measurement when baby is so far head down

I'm 30 weeks pregnant and I'm anxious about everything so I completely understand, but I really believe this is just scan inaccuracy. It's good you have a midwife appointment tomorrow, hopefully that will put you at ease.

Hopefully she'll be here soon 💕

40 week scan with head down, engaged baby, has a really big margin of error. The head may have started to mould also (normal process to fit through the birth canal and will lead to changed shape/measures). Wouldn’t worry at all. All the best.

It's not saying she's shrunk. The measurements in mm are higher on the 40+1 document than on the earlier scan, so she has grown a little. The centile decrease suggests growth has slowed, not reversed. So she is now measuring at a lower than average point than previously.

ETA I just saw the OFD has gone down. That seems unlikely when everything else, including head circumference, has gone up? Maybe it's an error - odd that nobody mentioned it in your appointment. Definitely flag with your midwife to query.

I had two growth scans quite far apart (around 32 and 39 weeks) and my overall centile had dropped by 20% in that time. And my baby's head circumference at 39 weeks was 97% compared to everything else being between 50-60%. She came out perfect at 7lbs and her head looks perfectly fine! The doctors weren't worried at all once they saw her in the flesh. Try not to panic - at this stage there's nothing that you can do other than wait it out, and if you go into labour feeling anxious and scared, this won't be good for you or the baby. Easier said than done I know.

@Overdueandworriedhows it going? …you’re probably way too busy to be looking on here though tbf