Confused by MW appt today...

[Ashlee B x]

So i see my MW n i had mentioned to her about he birth n if is still ok to have the baby at the birthing centre considering my history (teejay needin ventouse n then having shoulder dystocia) she looked a lil puzzled n looked bk thru my notes and then asked me to explain what had happened, so i did, n shes booked me in for a referral to see the consultant to discuss things

What should i expect??

Anyway after that was all sorted she done urine sample, all fine! Baby HB is in 150's which is great, my BP was fine n she felt for baby n said shes def head down, which really hurt as she was pushin down
But whats confused me is she said is just about measuring 34, well im 34+4 so i said thats good n she says, well shes not small but shes not massive either. She plotted on the chart thats shes above average n to expect an 8 to 8 1/2 lb'a. WHY if shes measuring slightly smaller shud i expect a larger than average baby?!?

Anyone shed some light??

 

[MeowPurr32]

I don't know for sure, but I would guess what happened in your previous pregnancy will not affect where you give birth in this one (unless you had a C-section). The specifics of this pregnancy are what should determine whether you can give birth in the birthing center: do you have diabetes, are you taking medication, the baby's size, the baby's position when you're in labor, the baby's heart-rate while you're in labor, whether you are considered higher risk, etc.
But I think they should be assessing this pregnancy, not your last one, know what I mean?

What type of measurements did your midwife take? Did she take them with the ultrasound or just by feeling your abdomen and doing a fundal height measurement? It sounds like she's assuming since the average baby is about 7 pounds and yours is measuring above the average, she might be closer to 8 pounds, but they really can't tell for sure, so she's just taking her best guess. They measure different parts of the baby (the size of the head, the size of the stomach, the length, etc.) so maybe some of the measurements were approximately 34 weeks, some bigger, and it averages out to a little above the average?

I would not worry whether she's going to be 7 or 8 or 8.5 pounds, because any of those are fine and healthy. They can only estimate, no matter how they measure, and typically, the measurements are off somewhat.

 

[Misslove]

Doesnt make alot of sense to me! Im 36 weeks and measure ay 40 but shes never told me what size bub will be only a scan can 'guess' that! Ad anyway im on par for a 9 1/2 + & im still going to a birthing centre xx

 

[maybe11]

Hi. This time around I ve noticed my chart is based on my daughters weight/gestation. SO they have plotted his measurements against the same chart and although dd was 7lb7oz, given his 20 week measurements on the same chart, I m looking at a 10lb'er

I dont know how accurate this is though....

 

[Kyliem87]

I'm not putting much stock in to it! At 29weeks I measured 29cm and was told I was measuring lovely. Then at 31 weeks I measured 31cm and was told I was measuring "slightly bigger than I should be!" I had a growth scan a week 1/2 later - not connected to the measurements but something totally different - and she's measuring spot on so I wouldn't take it too seriously. Take it with a pinch of salt kind of thing

 

[Ashlee B x]

I don't know for sure, but I would guess what happened in your previous pregnancy will not affect where you give birth in this one (unless you had a C-section). The specifics of this pregnancy are what should determine whether you can give birth in the birthing center: do you have diabetes, are you taking medication, the baby's size, the baby's position when you're in labor, the baby's heart-rate while you're in labor, whether you are considered higher risk, etc.
But I think they should be assessing this pregnancy, not your last one, know what I mean?

What type of measurements did your midwife take? Did she take them with the ultrasound or just by feeling your abdomen and doing a fundal height measurement? It sounds like she's assuming since the average baby is about 7 pounds and yours is measuring above the average, she might be closer to 8 pounds, but they really can't tell for sure, so she's just taking her best guess. They measure different parts of the baby (the size of the head, the size of the stomach, the length, etc.) so maybe some of the measurements were approximately 34 weeks, some bigger, and it averages out to a little above the average?

I would not worry whether she's going to be 7 or 8 or 8.5 pounds, because any of those are fine and healthy. They can only estimate, no matter how they measure, and typically, the measurements are off somewhat.

I want to go to the birthing centre this time and have a water birth nut unsure if i can. It all depends on what consultant says, if shes big then they may induce, or tell me to go to the main hosp for monitoring when the time comes n i can kiss goodbye to my water birth

She done it just by feeling babys position and measuring fundal height, at first she said 'she'll probably be a dainty lil thing this time round' and then she said expect a larger than average baby at 8-81/2 lb WTF how can i be measuring smaller n still carry a large baby when at my growth scan almost 2 weeks ago she was measuring almost 2 weeks smaller - which is more accurate? MW's word n experience or the measurments of an actual scan??

 

[Ashlee B x]

Doesnt make alot of sense to me! Im 36 weeks and measure ay 40 but shes never told me what size bub will be only a scan can 'guess' that! Ad anyway im on par for a 9 1/2 + & im still going to a birthing centre xx

Some older midwives r good at estimating what baby weighs if baby is in the right position.
But i dont think its because the size of the baby for the consultant its the fact i was pushing for over 2 hours, ventouse delivery for his head and then his shoulders got stuck, causing a pretty traumatic birth, could have been his size, could have been becoz his head came wnky, cud have been coz his hand was by his head when born, i really have no clue at all

 

[Jaysmummy]

I wouldn't worry too much about the whole birthing centre/water birth bit hun, I'm sure you'll be allowed to. Hopefully they won't class you as high risk because of what happened last time. Jackson was huge but I swear its because I had a water birth and wasn't on my back is the reason he didn't get stuck.

Maybe the consultant will want to give you a growth scan around the 36/38 week mark?

xx

 

[tinypixie]

It all depends on what consultant says, if shes big then they may induce

If you do not want to be induced because they *think* your baby might be big then remind your consultant that the NICE Guidelines state a suspected large baby alone is not a recommeded reason to induce.


https://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12012/41256/41256.pdf

(on page 14 at the bottom)

 

[crazylilth1ng]

I don't know much about the weight thing but... My previous delivery was complicated by a shoulder dystocia which required delivery of the posterior arm after the McRoberts position failed and there is a 10% chance of this happening again in a subsequent delivery.

I was advised from THE START not to deliver on a low risk unit which includes a water birth, as medical staff are closer at hand on the high risk delivery suite should baby need help after the birth. The midwives are trained against this emergency however.

I've got till 41 weeks to go into labour naturally and if I don't I have a section booked as it is the only thing that can guarantee it won't happen again.

I'm shocked that this stuff has not been discussed with you!

Eta: my previous delivery was thought to be partly caused by the fact that she was a large baby and they don't induce for large babies, especially as IOL is a risk factor to the shoulders getting stuck.

There is no reason why you can't have a natural delivery in the pool, but they have to advise you of this stuff as shoulder dystocia is very serious and you need to make informed choices.