small for dates - should i be worried?

[Mummywannabe]

Midwife just told me i'm small for dates (32 weeks not 34), read it can be out by up to 2cm but should i be worried. Well of course i will worry but you know what i mean.

I was always small for my dates when having DS, and then at my 38 wk check my midwife said that the baby would be small, but nothing to worry about...............he ended up being 8 lbs 9 !!!!!

thanks sneekpeeks, got my head back together today and have stopped stressing. 8lb 9 - ouch!

I wouldn't worry too much. Whilst I didn't have the "big for dates/small for dates" routine, several of my Mummy friends did and all gave birth to babies between 7.5 and 8lbs.

Sizing seems to be an inexact science to say the least!

did she go by the fundal height as that is only an estimate and not definate. only a scan would confirm if you were small for dates.

Went by funal height, to be honest she was very flustered and busy, rushed about and i'm not that sure now whether she might have made an error. She said not to worry but you can't help it. I'm very little myself so guess this could add to it.
Will see what happens in 2 weeks when i do back

several things can affect the fundal height such as the way the baby is lying.
and i think that 2cm difference either way is ok, if it is more then that is when it is classed as not the norm.

I measured on average 4cm small by fundus height for all my babies. They were small, but within normal limits ie over 5lbs, and were all absolutely fine and healthy, with no extra care needed. Small can just be small, although we did do the extra scans with the first 2 just to be sure, we didnt bother with no 3! The scans actually predicted slightly larger babies than they were, but all are quite small now as toddlers/children.

If you are concerned, do check it out as it is horrible to be worrying, but being small isn't necessarily a problem - my births were certainly easier than many peoples

Thanks everyone. Think i will see what happens next time. Seeing consultant about other problem on tuesday (low platelets) so will mention it to him while i'm there.