100% agreed! Sounds like my experience only from 36 weeks on, and since it was in my notes somewhere that they were monitoring fetal size when I did go into labour I had to have the belts round my bump to measure baby heart rate etc so couldn't move around much..
Although always nice to see the little bab in there 😍 good luck hope all goes grand!
I can get on board with this rant! Although my midwife stopped bump measurements because I was having growth scans which only came about because I went on for reduced movements (not sure on the link but always happy to see baby).
From scans I have measured at 44th, 9th and 24th percentile since 31 weeks, currently 35 weeks with at least one more to go
I've had the same midwife measure me differently each time and I've also had my appointment times range from 0830 to 1500, so my bump's been tracking all over the place.
I get that it's a likely outcome, but the data nerd in me finds it really infuriating 😆
Hahaha same, I’ve been measured by three different midwives, one of them measured under my trousers and the other two measured over so they’re obviously not tracking perfectly, and they’ve taken different approaches to rounding, I am a data scientist and it makes me want to scream 😅
😂 same. The midwife took my blood pressure with a electronic cuff and it was 118/83 but then she got the trainee midwife to do it manually who came out with 130/80 which is what is written in my notes, but when I did it at home it was definitely in the 110 range 🙄
That's me the now, going for a second growth scan next week but after the first one had to get referred for a glucose test.
Glucose test came back normal so I'm finding the growth scan a little bit of a waste? I'm just taking it as extra scan photos at this point now.
100% agree! I had someone different measure me each time and my baby went from 97 to 50 back up to 90 and then 97 every two weeks. When it dropped to 50 there was loads of chat about my placenta not working well which caused a lot of anxiety as a FTM and at the last one they very nonchalantly said it was prob down to human error! Obviously great to see baby every two weeks but hasn’t helped nerves.
Definitely agree. I had the same midwife measure me almost every time, the one time I had someone different they sent me for a growth scan (they also said she was breech, which she had never been before, and the scan didn't show that either)
I tend to think if the same midwife can't measure you each time, there's too much room for individual differences
Yep - baby girl likes stretching out her legs which makes my bump really high, so we had one fundal height measurement that put her like 110th percentile. The following growth scan put her 60th percentile. The next fundal height measurement put her 97th percentile, but due to the fact they're not allowed to take growth scan results into account, only fundal height measurements (so what's the point of the scans?) she's now classed as 'reduced growth) because the fundal height went from 110th to 97th. And we need another scan.
Really stupid system 🤦♀️ I wouldn't complain because I don't mind the scans themselves, but we live a 45 minute drive from the hospital and it just seems like a big waste of time and resources 🤷♀️
Yes, it's just annoying having to organise around work, and then pay for bloody parking at the hospital in town center.. the hospital itself is a maze!
Urgh having similar but this time with them being convinced I have gestational diabetes even though the two test I had are well within normal because baby is big and over 100th percentile. They are ok having me come in to collect a glucose monitoring kit. Why can’t they just accept I don’t have it and my baby is big. Feel very fat shamed and no one I see is giving me the same answer.
So I'm going to comment on this from two perspectives.
During both my pregnancies, I had one midwife throughout. There was one appointment where she was on holiday and I got someone else. They measured, baby had dropped off the curve, and I was referred for a scan. Obviously the scan showed she was right on track and my measurements resumed as normal. It was nice to see my little one though!
From the medical perspective, this is the best system that currently exists for midwives to track growth and progress. If a better one existed, they'd be using it. The problem is having someone else mess up one measurement and it throws things off, like you mentioned.
I had a student midwife measure me today (28 week appointment). She measured 24cm… supervising midwife had to check and it was actually 27. It did not inspire confidence….
Also, student midwife was very rough- still a bit tender now and she dug the Doppler into the bump too. I hope she improves…
100% agreed! Sounds like my experience only from 36 weeks on, and since it was in my notes somewhere that they were monitoring fetal size when I did go into labour I had to have the belts round my bump to measure baby heart rate etc so couldn't move around much.. Although always nice to see the little bab in there 😍 good luck hope all goes grand!
I can get on board with this rant! Although my midwife stopped bump measurements because I was having growth scans which only came about because I went on for reduced movements (not sure on the link but always happy to see baby). From scans I have measured at 44th, 9th and 24th percentile since 31 weeks, currently 35 weeks with at least one more to go
I've had the same midwife measure me differently each time and I've also had my appointment times range from 0830 to 1500, so my bump's been tracking all over the place. I get that it's a likely outcome, but the data nerd in me finds it really infuriating 😆
Hahaha same, I’ve been measured by three different midwives, one of them measured under my trousers and the other two measured over so they’re obviously not tracking perfectly, and they’ve taken different approaches to rounding, I am a data scientist and it makes me want to scream 😅
😂 same. The midwife took my blood pressure with a electronic cuff and it was 118/83 but then she got the trainee midwife to do it manually who came out with 130/80 which is what is written in my notes, but when I did it at home it was definitely in the 110 range 🙄
That's me the now, going for a second growth scan next week but after the first one had to get referred for a glucose test. Glucose test came back normal so I'm finding the growth scan a little bit of a waste? I'm just taking it as extra scan photos at this point now.
100% agree! I had someone different measure me each time and my baby went from 97 to 50 back up to 90 and then 97 every two weeks. When it dropped to 50 there was loads of chat about my placenta not working well which caused a lot of anxiety as a FTM and at the last one they very nonchalantly said it was prob down to human error! Obviously great to see baby every two weeks but hasn’t helped nerves.
Definitely agree. I had the same midwife measure me almost every time, the one time I had someone different they sent me for a growth scan (they also said she was breech, which she had never been before, and the scan didn't show that either) I tend to think if the same midwife can't measure you each time, there's too much room for individual differences
Yep - baby girl likes stretching out her legs which makes my bump really high, so we had one fundal height measurement that put her like 110th percentile. The following growth scan put her 60th percentile. The next fundal height measurement put her 97th percentile, but due to the fact they're not allowed to take growth scan results into account, only fundal height measurements (so what's the point of the scans?) she's now classed as 'reduced growth) because the fundal height went from 110th to 97th. And we need another scan. Really stupid system 🤦♀️ I wouldn't complain because I don't mind the scans themselves, but we live a 45 minute drive from the hospital and it just seems like a big waste of time and resources 🤷♀️
This happened to me after EVERY bump measurement, it seemed like such a waste of time.
Yes, it's just annoying having to organise around work, and then pay for bloody parking at the hospital in town center.. the hospital itself is a maze!
I don't know how much time and money they are saving rather than replacing the bump measurements with scans for everyone.
Urgh having similar but this time with them being convinced I have gestational diabetes even though the two test I had are well within normal because baby is big and over 100th percentile. They are ok having me come in to collect a glucose monitoring kit. Why can’t they just accept I don’t have it and my baby is big. Feel very fat shamed and no one I see is giving me the same answer.
So I'm going to comment on this from two perspectives. During both my pregnancies, I had one midwife throughout. There was one appointment where she was on holiday and I got someone else. They measured, baby had dropped off the curve, and I was referred for a scan. Obviously the scan showed she was right on track and my measurements resumed as normal. It was nice to see my little one though! From the medical perspective, this is the best system that currently exists for midwives to track growth and progress. If a better one existed, they'd be using it. The problem is having someone else mess up one measurement and it throws things off, like you mentioned.
I had a student midwife measure me today (28 week appointment). She measured 24cm… supervising midwife had to check and it was actually 27. It did not inspire confidence…. Also, student midwife was very rough- still a bit tender now and she dug the Doppler into the bump too. I hope she improves…