Bump measuring small

[InvisibleDragon]

I'm 35 weeks, but at an appointment yesterday my bump was only measuring 30 weeks.

At previous midwife appointments (28, 33 weeks), bump size was just over the 50th centile. At 20 week scan, baby was between 40th and 50th centile. I'm thinking the measurement yesterday must actually have been objectively smaller than at 33 weeks.

I'm feeling really anxious that perhaps my baby hasn't been growing well for the last month - or even longer if the 33 week measurement was wrong.

I'm booked in for a growth scan tomorrow and baby movements and CTG were all fine yesterday - but what are the implications of the bump size not increasing as expected?

Try not to worry. Something similar happened to me but when I went to the growth scan, they said my baby was absolutely fine and put her back on the 50th percentile again. I believe fundal height measurements are known to be very inaccurate.

I wouldn't worry too much about bump measurements. They are notoriously incorrect. Mine always measured big at one appointment and then small at another, I was always being sent for growth scans because of the inconsistencies, and even the growth scans were very incorrect and the measurements were way off. I have spoken to so many people since who had the same experience. Try not to worry

Thanks @Momstermash94 and @T0astedTeacake - fingers crossed everything looks ok tomorrow. Just feeling anxious because I've been very stressed out the last month or so and don't want that to have harmed my baby somehow!

Are you tall? I’m tall and my bumps always measured small because there’s more vertical room.

As others have said, bump measurements are notoriously inaccurate. Baby could have changed the position they are lying in and that too can change the measurement. Really not worth any panic whatsoever right now, especially if baby is moving nicely. Have your growth scan and see what they say and you’ll likely find everything is all looking fine so don’t worry until there’s anything confirmed to worry about. They will always be overcautious about these things especially so late in your pregnancy.

Even my growth scans showed baby too big, then severely growth restricted and then absolutely fine again, all a load of stress for nothing. There's a lot of inaccuracies with measurements!

@noblegiraffe yes, I am quite tall - with wide hips too, so plenty of space to put a 40th centile baby!

Thanks @Groundhogday2025 , that's reassuring too!

Hopefully there's a mixture of measurement error, changes to position/fluid retention (33 week measurement was on a very hot day) that is enough to explain the measurement changes -- and we see a healthy baby tomorrow!

I measured small, had extra scans. 38 week one said she was just a small baby. At this point though, they estimated that DD was bigger than I was when I was born, so didn't worry. The women on both sides of my family all had small babies, so the midwife said it was likely that I would follow suit.

Also, was your bump measured by the same midwife as always? I was told they try to keep the same midwife measuring the bump at the appointments as 2 different midwifes can yield totally different measurements due to where and how they measure. It can really throw the graph off. Once or twice I had a different midwife and those times did cause graph fluctuations

That's a good point - the first 2 measurements were my community midwife, the most recent was a different midwife at the pregnancy triage service. Very possible she measured differently!

Yeah it's a load of bollocks and I'm surprised the NHS still do it. My sister was 'measuring small' and he was 10lbs.

I wouldn't worry honestly. Im currently 39+5 and my bump has continuously measured small this time according to their charts (even though im massive.) they call it static growth ive been referred to 3 growth scans this pregnancy and i declined the last one and said i wont be going to anymore as the midwife and sonographer both informed me that in late pregnancy they actually have an inaccuracy rate of about 60%! My midwife even said the charts arent as personalised as they should be and by feeling she thinks my baby is average sized but because her tape measure doesn't say the number they want i keep getting referrals.

Thanks for the reassurance yesterday everyone - scan was totally fine. Baby roughly the same centile as before (slightly lower based on tummy measurement but higher based on head and femur). Normal amount of fluid. No issues whatsoever. Phew!

Great! Hope you can relax now for the rest of your pregnancy!

And another quick update way after the birth.

Baby arrived safely by planned C-section at 39 weeks and a few days.

She was quite small - just under 3kg which was about the 10th centile. She looked quite skinny tbh, but she fed well since birth and is following her curve nicely.

I think her growth may have slowed down in the last few weeks because 40th to 10th centile is quite a drop. But she's here and growing beautifully at 2 months, so no ongoing concerns!

First baby was measuring small and I was induced. LOL. He was 9lbs 10oz and ready to hold a conversation.

Second baby same situation - I was still in my size 8 jeans. She was 8lbs 5oz.

Lovely update. All the best. 🩷

Fab news

The really nice thing about your update is that people in the future searching for this issue will be reassured to know that it all turned out ok in the end.