How accurate is doctor predicted birth weight without ultrasound?

goldengirlamy · October 2014

Last week at my appointment the doctor felt my stomach and made a comment that I would have a very large baby and by large her definition was 8 pounds as a guess. I don't have a lot of faith in her assessment being that I can still wear pre-pregnancy stretch pants, and most are shocked to hear I'm in my third trimester. I'm a FTM so I don't really know anything here but it really just irritated me the way she said it. That was right after she said I'd gained too much weight and to quote "I guess that ship has sailed now, but watch what you are eating..."
I've gained 40 pounds total. Take away extra fluids, some fat, baby and placenta, that really isn't that much...

If the baby is too big upon delivery, does that put me at risk for a c-section?

pnwlover12 · October 2014

An 8lb baby is not unbirthable. And your doctor is a dick.

golfingdarwinfish · October 2014

Majorly side eyeing your doctor.

asarem93 · October 2014

My ultrasound tech just told me that machine said I have an 11 pound baby in here... My midwife just laughed. We are estimating 8.5 lbs.

trisharenee0316 · October 2014

goldengirlamy said:

Last week at my appointment the doctor felt my stomach and made a comment that I would have a very large baby and by large her definition was 8 pounds as a guess. I don't have a lot of faith in her assessment being that I can still wear pre-pregnancy stretch pants, and most are shocked to hear I'm in my third trimester. I'm a FTM so I don't really know anything here but it really just irritated me the way she said it. That was right after she said I'd gained too much weight and to quote "I guess that ship has sailed now, but watch what you are eating..."
I've gained 40 pounds total. Take away extra fluids, some fat, baby and placenta, that really isn't that much...

If the baby is too big upon delivery, does that put me at risk for a c-section?

Not very accurate. I believe that I read a study several weeks back that the most accurate method to estimate is to see ultrasound (measuring the femur, belly, and maybe a couple of other things) + have belly measurements. Belly measurements can vary a bunch by the position of the baby, so...yeah, not helpful on its own.

BTW, 8 lbs is not a very large baby. I think it's 9.5 lbs for a mom with GD or 11+ lbs for a mom without GD to be considered fetal macrosomia (meaning, large baby). Your doctor is a twatwaffle.

ETA: Women birth large babies all the time and no one here can answer whether the size of your baby will make it a c-section risk. We don't have x-rays of your pelvis, so we don't know how it will work or accommodate babies of a certain size (or if there are any defects in it that would make birthing a child of any size difficult). But yeah, an 8 lb baby for a normal woman would not be too difficult to birth vaginally.

hgielrebmik · October 2014

My 8lb 8oz baby came out in 5 minutes and I didn't even tear. Don't worry, and estimates are off all the time. And eat some chocolate, and donuts, and pizza, and french fries - we won't judge.

windwithfingers · October 2014

A lot of us have given birth vaginally to 8lbs babies. DS was 8lbs 7oz and I had a very minor tear. 8lbs is not a big baby (unless you have a really small pelvis, I guess). As @trisharenee0316‌ said, even with ultrasound, the predictions aren't very accurate. Your doctor sounds like a jerk.

And we don't judge weight gain here. We don't really even talk about it at all

goldengirlamy · October 2014

Thanks for reassuring me that I'm not just being a hormonal fool. She's not my usual doctor, and honestly if she's on call when I deliver I might consider pushing the baby back in myself until her shift is over. I actually went to the patient advocate and complained about her dick comments, my hormones are just having a hard time getting over it.
I

2goingon3 · October 2014

Mine was just 9lbs2oz and it was totally fine. 2 stitches. And I was told that I have a narrow pelvis (my previous deliveries were 7lbs8oz & 8lbs8oz) That doc is crazy.

mariek312 · October 2014

I'm a FTM and gave birth to a 7lbs 15oz baby boy with one small first degree tear that required 3 stitches. My midwife had guessed around 7lbs 5oz so she was under but the ultrasound had predicted over 8lbs. So basically ditto to every post thus far (and for what it's worth, my weight gain was the same as yours and the midwives never said a bad word about it!)

kikimeemee · October 2014

Doctors office I go to won't even guess baby's weight bc they say it's so inaccurate. Friend was told her baby would be 7 lbs 2 oz and she came out 8 lbs 13 oz.

I'll give your doc the benefit of the doubt but I'm so sorry for the comments you had to hear.

jmw222 · October 2014

They said larger for me, estimate 8.5-9lb the week before my scheduled c. He was 7.3. So yeah not accurate.

miss.brittany · October 2014

I wouldn't stress about it too much. Ultrasounds are supposed to be even more accurate than estimating by palpating the stomach, and with my first DD I had weekly ultrasounds from 32-40 weeks. They told me she'd weigh 8 1/2 lbs. She came 6 days past her EDD and only weighed 7 lbs 9 oz, so they overestimated her by about a pound.

Dubsgirlie · October 2014

About 4 weeks before I gave birth my doctor guessed 6.5 pounds and baby was almost exactly that. 5 days before I gave birth, I had a growth ultrasound (measures head diameter/circumference, femur and belly) that said 6lb 7ounces. So for me, the estimates were spot on. Same for DS1. But like PP have said, I know many people who gave birth to babies 8 pounds or bigger!

PBJellyTime · October 2014

Yeah. Ditto to what everyone has said!! I had an ultrasound the DAY my daughter was born and they told me she was 8 pounds 8 oz. She was 6 pounds 7 oz....sounds like you Doc is a dick if you ask me. Don't put too much stock in the numbers, and trust/know that your body knows what is doing and it CAN push an 8 pound baby out if that is the case!! Tons of women have birthed bigger.

Maggie6424 · October 2014

Kaiser doesn't do ultrasounds for size estimates, only if they are concerned about a medical issue the baby has. With DS1, ultrasound said he'd be near 10lbs. He was 7lbs 9oz. Definitely don't worry about that jerk doctor.

NavyFlyer · October 2014

ultrasound and dr said huge baby. he was 5 lb 6 oz. screw it lol.

NavyFlyer · October 2014

Yea and PurpleHippo just had a 9 pounder naturally.

shannonshare · October 2014

Up until my 32nd week appointment, I had one OB who guessed that my baby would be around 7 lbs. Then that OB went on maternity leave and my new OB guessed at my 39 week, 2 day appointment that the baby would be 6 lbs, 6 oz. DS was born that night by induction and weighed 5 lbs, 14 oz. The doctor said that she thinks she was off because DS is pretty long, but just very thin, which they can't gauge by feel. So take what you will from what the doctor feels.

suncake · October 2014

Lol twatwaffle. ..

My Dr doesn't try to estimate. I feel it's because he has been practicing so long and has been way off so many times he doesn't even try.

goldengirlamy · October 2014

Thanks everyone! I'm over it! Just want her to come now!

KingsDaughter76 · October 2014

They guessed my baby the day b4 her birth to be over 8 lbs and at high risk for a shoulder dystocia due to her large belly/chest size.....this was by sonogram with a perinatologist! She came the next day at a tiny 6 lbs 15 0z and 19.75 " long......no issues except she was face up which gave me my first tear ever...a small first degree.Her belly and chest were of normal size and not the slightest bit big,,,,lol.....Sonos and palpitations are not accurate.

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