Is growth chart always right?

[spilla]

Went to see midwife yesterday and as usual she plotted on graph. According to the graph this baby will be bigger than the last, (9lb) are they always right or just an estimate? Help!! Due in 3 weeks and starting to get anxous!!

They really can't tell for certain, I had regular growth scans and they were a full poound out on their estimates on both my twins.

I'm not sure what measurement you are talking about, but if it's the size of your stomach it depends on how much water and the way you are carrying as much as anything. I was huge with dd and she was only 8lb. They said ds was going to be small as I measured small and he was 9lb7.

I'd try not to worry too much.

nope - I think they are a guide only and are often quite a long way out. I had a scan 2 days before ds1 was born - told 7.5lb - he was 6lb 5o when he came out !

It's very difficult to calculate the size the baby will be. With ds2 I had growth scans to see whether labour would need to be induced early (ds1 was a big baby ). They went ahead with the induction thinking that ds2 would be approx 7.5-8lbs. He was actually 9lbs.

they havent got a clue! i was told ds2 would be bigger than ds1 (who was 9lb 13oz). ds2 was 8lb 7oz. when pg with ds3 i asked if it was a bigger baby as i felt bigger. i asked if i should be buying 0-3m or 3-6m stuff. midwifes face told me probably 3-6m but she wouldnt actually say anything! ds3 was 9lb 6oz (was quite disappointing in end, i was expecting to have particularly gruesome story to entertain friends with). 2nd birth is easier anyway so even if baby is bigger, you will probably not have as much of a struggle as with 1st

Went to my first ante-natral class last night and they were discussing this and the midwife said that the scans are not that accurate and can be anything up to 25% either way, ie. less or more! HTH

I am very interested in this subject, and keep wondering how can they be so off.... (Sorry if I'm highjacking the thread)

I agree and understand that if they are just meassuring fundus height that it can be wrong for many reasons (water, position, etc....).

I can see that a single growth scan can also give errors because that could be something particular about that one day measurement. Recent growth spurt. Position abdomen is in it, etc....

However.... do any of you had multiple scans and results were still wrong?

reason I am asking is that I have GD and have been scanned every two weeks. Baby is consistently following 80 centile curve.... I am getting very anxious about that too. Is that a more reliable info???? anyone knows???

I had the other end of the scale and was scanned regularly for a small baby. Everything I had read said scan measurements were inaccurate and the doctors said they had a 20 % error margin. At 37 weeks they scanned and said dd was 2 kgs and would have to be induced - she was born 4 days later and was 2.078 kgs (4lbs 9oz) so in my case it was actually very accurate and I had to eat a few words !

lua - I had regular growth scans - about 5 in all, all showed consistant growth but my twins were a full pound smaller than estimated.