Baby small for gestational age - C-section provisionally booked for first week in July

[Star15]

Hi everyone

We are 33 weeks + 4 pregnant. Our baby is small for gestational age (around the 2.3rd centile) with short femurs. Today we have been booked in for a C-section in the first week of July when baby will be 37 weeks, as apparently this follows the guidelines for babies on this centile. After weeks of uncertainty it feels positive to have a rough plan in place. We are hoping the baby will continue to grow and put on weight over the next few weeks and the consultant seems to think baby should only need to be in hospital for a week or so having got to 37 weeks.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and have any advice/tips to share?

Thanks in advance! X

[Kata89]

This was us exactly a year ago!! I’ve now got a very healthy and happy 10.5 month old who’s a little pickle. She was a c-section at 38 weeks exactly (we were told it’ll be done at 37 weeks initially) she wasn’t actually that small she was 6lb8, we were expecting her to be a lot smaller. She’s still small 9th centile for weight and 2nd for height but she’s perfectly formed.

I’d say try to enjoy the remainder of your pregnancy and try to not get stressed about it (easier said than done I know). And they will be ready for baby when they arrive. We had whole team of paediatricians and midwives ready to take care of her. You and baby will be in the safest of hands at the point of delivery

[Star15 in reply to Kata89]

Thanks so much for your reply. I’m glad to hear everything went so well with your little girl! It’s interesting that she was heavier than expected when she was born, just goes to show the measurements they do through the scans can never be that exact I suppose. Did you have to stay in hospital for long after she was born? Did she need any extra help with breathing/feeding/regulating temp etc?

After initially having thought the baby’s size was due to placental insufficiency the consultant now seems to think it’s just a small baby as placenta seems to be doing ok. They may want to test for specific genes after baby is born but we are hoping the short femurs are just linked to baby being small overall rather than anything underlying (we had an amino and microarray which both came back ok).

We definitely feel like we have been and will continue to be well looked-after and are grateful they have picked up on the small size now so we are being monitored and baby will have the care it needs.

Yes I said to my husband this morning that I’m going to try and enjoy the last few weeks of the pregnancy now as it’s all just felt quite stressful and overwhelming up til now and now at least we have an idea of what will happen!

Thanks again for your reply x

[Kata89 in reply to Star15]

We were discharged at about 5:30 the following day. She was fine, apart from a tongue tie diagnosis. I was ready for her to go into SCBU so count myself lucky that she didn’t.

I don’t think the measurements are an exact science tbh I’ve known term babies to be born tiny and others huge but it’s not come up on scans.

[Annh17]

I can’t really help with small baby, but I did have a c section and happy to help.

My LG’s belly was measuring large and was having growth scans and they kept saying your having a large baby, safest option for birth was a c section. We was booked in and LG was 8lb 8, which too me isn’t large at all, but her belly was quite wide.

I would recommend big pads and too put 1 over your wound for extra protection, hold a pillow/cushion against your stomach when your in car, cough, sneeze, laugh. Take your time and get plenty of rest, it really is a serious operation and you will be sore. Do not lift, move anything, people say trapped wind is awful after a c section, so take peppermint tea (I never had this problem, so can’t help) take the painkillers, even if you don’t feel like your pain, continue too take them. If you would like any more information, please message me x