Bit concerned over fundal height

[Caramel100]

Hi everyone,

I am 29+3 weeks pregnant. I had an antenatal check today where the the baby's heartbeat was listened to and the height of my fundus was measured at 26cm. The midwife said everything is fine and I was really pleased.

When I got home I just happened to have a look on the graph for fundal height and noticed 26cm seems quite a low measurement for 29+ weeks pregnant. After searching the internet it seems some other women with the same measurements have mentioned being sent for growth scans. My midwife didn't mention that the measurement was low and I feel the baby move a lot so I'm not overly worried. Having said this, my next appointment is now not until I am 34 weeks pregnant. I am a bit worried that if there was an issue this is a long time before I am measured again.

Should I be concerned?

Thanks.

Yes fundal height can vary according to lie of baby and person doing it.

Normal range is your gestation +/-2cm; so you are not that far off normal.

i can only echo what the others have said, it is only a very vague estimate. i was measured by 4 different people during the same morning a few weeks ago, and got 4 different measurementS!
try not to worry, they would have told you if there was any thing to be worried about.

Thanks for the replies. I feel more reassured. As I said the midwife didn't even mention it so I know it's unlikely to be a problem, it's just a long time until I'm seen again. But if I'm worried in the next few weeks I'm sure I can go to the drop in and just say that I was concerned.

olivo, also reassuring to hear that it's not that accurate too so thanks for sharing your experience.

With DD1 I understood normal range was +/- 2 cms but this time I talked to my mw & they are now (in this area at least) using +/- 4cms. Lie (eg a transverse lie) can make a big difference. I also think consistently out is more notable than a one-off measurement. Can you phone your mw? She might have a perfectly obvious explanation which she just didn't think to mention, eg a transverse lie, or she might, like the mws in my area, now be using +/- 4 instead of 2.

can I ask a perhaps stupid question? Does fundal height also depend on your pre pregnancy tummy size? At my 24 week visit my fundus (lovely word??) was measuring 28cm (!). Could part of this be down to the fact that I've always carried alot of weight round my middle??

I don't think that should make that much difference (I might be wrong!) I was overweight last time, but not this time, but my babies have grown pretty much the same (so far). But I am pretty sure that the length of your body can affect it - if you have a particularly short body (either because you're short, or because your top half is short in comparison to the rest of you) I seem to remember that can make a difference. But my mw reckons most of the time it's to do with the baby's lie.