Perception of big baby vs. actual big baby

[frecklesinside]

XP from FB:  I'm sad to see how many women are uneducated and/or misinformed about size of baby and the impact of the size of baby on the birthing experience (I'm not talking just here, but wherever I engage in conversation about birthing and pregnancy). The medical community, unfortunately, IMO, perpetuates false information in the form of fear mongering. Many people don't even question what their doctors/OBs/midwives tell them.


The truth is, the perception of a large baby is actually far more dangerous than an actual large baby. Meaning, if I actually am carrying a large baby, my chances of induction, c-section, or other procedures and interventions is less than if my doctor PERCEIVES me to be carrying a large baby. This perception increases the risk of intervention, induction and c-section at an absurd rate.


I'm bringing this up because I know some of you have already been told you are suspected of having a large baby and you need to make sure you are SAFE and that baby is SAFE and that this likely means induction or planned c-section. I want you to ask the question, safe from what? Your body is made to birth the baby you grow. I know that things *can* come up making a c-section or induction necessary, but the statistics don't lie. Our induction and c-section rates in this nation are above and beyond all other nations, and this should give us all pause. So, if your doctor mentions induction (which often leads to c-section) or a planned c-section because of your "large baby," I just want you to feel empowered to question what they are saying and do your own research.


Growth ultrasounds can be off by +/- two pounds. Think of that. E was supposed to be over 8 lbs. She was 6 lbs 6 oz. I hear stories like this all of the time. So I'll leave this here and get off my soapbox: Evidence Based Birth on Induction and C-Section for Big Babies

[frecklesinside]

And I want to add this, which was a response of mine on the FB page:

I by no means want to make anyone feel guilted or bad because of a medically necessary procedure, but I do feel that given our rate of inductions and c-sections, a lot of what people are told are medically necessary procedures, are not in fact medically necessary. I want all women to feel confident about their control in their pregnancy and birthing. I know that things do come up and make induction or c-section necessary. I'm certainly not saying that is not a possibility. I'm thankful we have the medical means for these interventions when needed, but I am saddened by how many of these interventions are NOT needed but pushed upon women who don't question things out of fear or lack of information.

[ruemorgan]

Ugh, my coworker drives me insane with her growth scans. She comes complaining to me that she has a fat baby and the number her doctor gave her is fact.

"You know those numbers are just guesses, right?"
"No, the doctor measured my baby. My baby actually weighs this much"
"No, it is IMPOSSIBLE to know exactly how much your baby weighs right now. Its like common knowledge(I sincerely thought it was), fucking google it"
and then she writes me off as a FTM because shes a STM and has done this before...

[tuesday]

It is funny you bring this up now. I had my appointment yesterday and they said the baby is doing great 3 pounds and 13oz. I told my friend and she was like she is gonna be huge... Huh? They said she is average size and I am only 31 weeks so I have no idea how big she will be. DD was born at 37 weeks at 6 pound 14 oz. I guess if she stayed in until 40 weeks she would be closer to 8 pounds. According to my friend anything above 7 pounds is big??? That is crazy!!!!!

[jcar]

I don't get the whole growth scan thing unless you or your OB has reason to believe your baby is small or there's some other issue. I've heard of way too many women who were told their babies would be 9+ plus pounds only to be born at 7 or so, my SIL included. I had a 9.5 lb baby and I would refuse a growth scan if my OB offered it (unless medically necessary). Fortunately it hasn't even come up.

[coleybug13]

I'm one of the people who's doctor is concerned for a big baby. Although I am concerned as well because of the size of DS and what happened when I birthed him. He was 10lb 2ft and without going too far into it we both almost didn't make it. Anyways you are correct, his growth scan said he was 5lbs only 2 weeks before birth and they told me he'd be at risk being so small *insert eye roll here* the scan can be extremely off in my experience. This time they're doing a growth scan in a few weeks and I keep reminding the doctor the ultrasound is not accurate at all. He just looks at me like I'm an ass and says well whatever's gonna happen is what's gonna happen. I say hey, at least we agree on that. I would definitely not allow them to give me a csection because they think she's too big. Nope nope nope. Am I concerned this one will be just as big? Yup. I am willing to have a csection if things go the way they did last time but I am going too first attempt it on my own because they really can't tell exactly how big she is until she comes out.

[snarkysparklefart]

Thank you so much for posting this. I had a scheduled c-section last time due to suspected macrosomia- and although my water broke the day before and I didnhave TOL until my placental abrupion was noted, DD was a perfectly healthy 7lb, 11oz baby- we were expecting over 9 lbs.

I will not schedule a csection for this reason alone again.

[darbie914]

Thank you for posting this! DD was almost 10lbs but she was also 2 weeks late. My OB has advised me to watch my weight gain but if any growth scans are offered, is there a good reason to have them done? Would it be better to just decline it so as to not have that potential " big baby" perception?

[frecklesinside]

Jan 24, 2015 10:32:20 GMT -5 darbie914 said:

Thank you for posting this! DD was almost 10lbs but she was also 2 weeks late. My OB has advised me to watch my weight gain but if any growth scans are offered, is there a good reason to have them done? Would it be better to just decline it so as to not have that potential " big baby" perception?

What I would do? I would refuse the scans. I was intending to refuse the scans but then I was given a scan to check positioning and they also measured growth. Now we've got the perception thing going on. Thankfully, my practice of midwives is super awesome and I don't *think* this will be a huge issue. However, I do have my concerns still and I will be refusing all growth scans in the future. I intend to bring my research to my midwives to discuss my concerns, despite the fact that they've told me they aren't worried about baby size. Well, if they aren't worried about baby size, why did I end up having growth measurements done? 

This is obviously a very personal choice. I don't want to tell anyone to forgo medical appointments their midwives/doctors/OBs think are necessary. So take my opinion for what you will, I'm just sharing what I am personally doing. I'd say, do your research, arm yourself with knowledge, and make an informed decision that you discuss thoroughly with your midwife/doctor/OB. The idea is to be empowered by your knowledge and to not allow medical professionals to push you or scare you into doing things you don't want to do or that might impact your birth negatively unnecessarily. 

[drudolph11]

Yea add me to the large baby suspection too. According to my last growth scan, she is measuring over a pound more than is "normal" right now. I don't have GD so I dunno we will see. I am just going off the assumption that she will come when she is ready.

[atangiblewish]

Jan 24, 2015 7:13:42 GMT -5 tuesday said:

It is funny you bring this up now. I had my appointment yesterday and they said the baby is doing great 3 pounds and 13oz. I told my friend and she was like she is gonna be huge... Huh? They said she is average size and I am only 31 weeks so I have no idea how big she will be. DD was born at 37 weeks at 6 pound 14 oz. I guess if she stayed in until 40 weeks she would be closer to 8 pounds. According to my friend anything above 7 pounds is big??? That is crazy!!!!!

DD was 8lbs2oz and 21 inches. No one mentioned she was big. I honestly didn't think of her that way. She was still teeny tiny.

[mel7806]

I've never heard that anything over 7lbs is big! That's insane! With all the 9lb babies being born vaginally these day, I will take my 7.5 lb girls every time! Fuck that!

Also, a cousin of ours just had her baby last weekend. They induced her due to pre-e and she labored for a while before the switched to c/s. I was talking to FIL about it before I heard all the info and he was talking about how she must have had a "huge baby" and that cousin's body couldn't "handle the pressure or size of the baby". The baby was just less than 9 lbs and less than 20" long. I'm pretty sure the c/s was due to pre-e and not the size of the baby but that is what happens when you don't have the whole story. Lots of people who just don't understand what women can actually handle!

[massiejs09]

We have a "sizing" US on Feb 5 and after reading posts like this, talking to some friends, and looking online, I'm now going into it totally skeptical. I told my H to take what they tell us with a grain of salt. Like frecklesinside said...your body is going to grow the baby you are capable of giving birth to, unless there is some anomaly going on. I feel like this is just another way for insurance to bill for services.

[playlawook]

Thanks for postings this! It drives me up the wall. So my midwife recently ordered a growth scan for me because I went from consistently measuring 2 weeks ahead in fundal height to suddenly measuring 6 weeks ahead. I had the scan and my lovely doctor said "now at this point your guess is as good as mine as to how much this baby weighs, but according to our measurements, he is in the 97th percentile and I am guessing he weighs over 5 lbs at 31 weeks." And it's not a big deal. We are both healthy, he has the perfect amount of fluid a and is moving a lot. Like a little ninja. He is not worried and there is no talk of intervention, just that he said he wouldn't be surprised if I have him a little early. Or not. Because you never know, and baby will come when he's ready. I won't be surprised if I push out a perfectly average sized baby.