Fetal growth chart

"ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart? What I'm
looking for is the bell curve or some other kind of chart
that gives you percentile growth of the fetus by the
gestation week. I want to know what the doctors are
refering to when they say the baby is in the nth
percentile for weight, height etc.

Thanks.

Gosh - shouldn't the doctors supply you with that? I mean if
they are going to use the statistics, wouldn't they have the
source for back up? I would much prefer to get my data from
doctors [who presumably have access to the data] than from
an unverified website.

jacquel
- BSc [Statistics] ;-)

"ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart? What I'm
looking for is the bell curve or some other kind of chart
that gives you percentile growth of the fetus by the
gestation week. I want to know what the doctors are
refering to when they say the baby is in the nth
percentile for weight, height etc.

Do the docs tell you that? My docs never told me
anything about what percentile my babies were in until
they were born.

ted said:

Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart? What I'm
looking for is the bell curve or some other kind of chart
that gives you percentile growth of the fetus by the
gestation week.

For weight, there's one here:
ivfer.compg calc.htmOpen ↗ (scroll down). FWIW, I've
never seen a non-weight pre-birth measurement that was in
percentiles; I've always seen the measurements expressed as
weeks (meaning you'd be 50th percentile for that week).
Plus or minus one week isn't unusual in the first
trimester, plus or minus 2 weeks in the second, plus or
minus 3 weeks in the third.

Do bear in mind that being high (or low) on the charts
doesn't necessarily mean *anything* about the baby's well-
being, and that ultrasound measurements can be quite
inaccurate, depending on the quality of the machine, the
abilities of the sonographer, and whether the sonographer's
goal is to get the 100% most accurate measurement or a good
enough measurement.

Phoebe 🙂

I almost always new what percentile my daughter was in
before she was born because she was dropping in percentiles
before she was born. If she had dropped bellow the 9th % I
would have been induced.

Tori

--
Bonnie 3/20/02 Anna or Xavier due 10/17/04 "toypup"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:9xlzc.22943$Hg2.18203@attbi_s04...

Quoted message said:

"ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart? What I'm
looking for is the bell curve or some other kind of
chart that gives you percentile growth of the fetus by
the gestation week. I want to know what the doctors are
refering to when they say the baby is in the nth
percentile for weight, height etc.

Do the docs tell you that? My docs never told me
anything about what percentile my babies were in until
they were born.

"toypup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:9xlzc.22943$Hg2.18203@attbi_s04...

Quoted message said:

"ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart? What I'm
looking for is the bell curve or some other kind of
chart that gives you percentile growth of the fetus by
the gestation week. I want to know what the doctors are
refering to when they say the baby is in the nth
percentile for weight, height etc.

Do the docs tell you that? My docs never told me
anything about what percentile my babies were in until
they were born.

that's because there's no way to tell reliably until they
are born. i can't imagine a responsible person even bringing
that up(!) kylie

I am afraid I am getting off the beating path here, but I
have recently heard conflicting information. 1)Ultrasound
does not hurt or harm the baby at all. 2) Ultrasound should
be used sparingly... Is this another one of those "we don't
know the damage it could cause, so just don't do it."
explanations? I found myself running into those excuses
alot in my pregnancies. I found it extemely annoying and
sort of offensive, like "We don't care enough about
researching about such an important time of your life."
Anyways, just curious, not pregnant right now but hope to
be in the future.

"0tterbot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"toypup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:9xlzc.22943$Hg2.18203@attbi_s04...

Quoted message said:

"ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart? What
I'm looking for is the bell curve or some other kind
of chart that gives you percentile growth of the fetus
by the gestation week. I want to know what the doctors
are refering to when they say the baby is in the nth
percentile for weight, height etc.

Do the docs tell you that? My docs never told me
anything about what percentile my babies were in until
they were born.

that's because there's no way to tell reliably until they
are born. i

can't

Quoted message said:

imagine a responsible person even bringing that
up(!) kylie

I wish you were my Dr! I followed Bonnies growth curve while
I was pregnant with her that I still have a hard time not
wanting to put weight on her! Now I just know that she will
be about 10% of the growth curve and try not to worry about
it... yeah right. I had 8 ultra sounds with Bonnie and I
have had 3 already with #2.

Tori

--
Bonnie 3/20/02 Anna or Xavier due 10/17/04

Christy84065 said:

I am afraid I am getting off the beating path here, but I
have recently heard conflicting information. 1)Ultrasound
does not hurt or harm the baby at all. 2) Ultrasound
should be used sparingly... Is this another one of those
"we don't know the damage it could cause, so just don't do
it." explanations?

Well, no one can say that u/s does not hurt or harm
the baby at all because you can't prove a negative.
The best you can do is say that no study has
demonstrated any harm. That said, there *have* been
studies that have raised questions about u/s. In
vitro studies have showed that it can produce
cavitation. Multiple in vivo studies have shown
that it increases left-handedness in boys (which is
not earth-shattering in and of itself, but raises
the question if it can affect handedness, what else
can it be affecting that we haven't measured yet?).
Beyond that, there are studies that are
controversial and uncorroborated and not as strong
as one would like methodologically that raise the
spectre of other possible problems, some of which
are more serious. Because it cannot be proven to be
safe, and there are some niggling possibilities out
there than haven't been squashed, most responsible
medical bodies recommend against the use of routine
u/s. The ACOG, for instance, says that NO u/s
should be done in pregnancy without a medical
indication, not that most OBs follow that
guideline. On the other hand, most people set the
bar pretty low for "medical indication" because it
seems like it's pretty safe, so there's not much
impediment to using it if there is actionable
knowledge to be gained from using it. People also
often overestimate the value of the information to
be gained from routine u/s.

Quoted message said:

I found myself running into those excuses alot in my
pregnancies. I found it extemely annoying and sort of
offensive, like "We don't care enough about researching
about such an important time of your life."

That's not a particularly fair characterization in
this case. There have been multiple large,
longitudinal studies of the use of u/s in pregnancy.
But no study is perfect, and when you're talking
about the use of u/s in pregnancy, I'll bet even you
can't sit down right now and list all the possible
effects one might look for. After all, would you
have put handedness on a list of the things to look
for in a study on the safety of u/s? Just think of
all the diseases, conditions, behavioral issues,
etc. that would have to be studied, ideally with
long term prospective double blind studies, before
we really could say that we knew it was safe with a
straight face? In fact, right now it would be darned
hard to get large numbers in a double blinded study
because you'd have a heck of a time getting study
volunteers to be in the control group! How many
women do you know who'd be willing to go through a
pregnancy without an u/s? I went through two of my
three that way (and had u/s in the third at the end
only for medical indication), and most people
thought I was stark, raving mad, if not
insufficiently interested in the health of my baby.
Yes, it would be better if we had more data. Yes, it
is offensive (to me, at least) that obstetrics has a
history of being somewhat cavalier about the
introduction of new, unproven technology (x-ray
pelvimetry and DES, anyone?). Yes, it would be
better if clients were more critical of the use of
technology/testing (evidence is weak on *many* of
the tests routinely performed in pregnancy, not to
mention many of the procedures used in childbirth).
But it's not as simple an issue as people being
unwilling or uninterested in doing the research.

Best wishes, Ericka

"Tori M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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"0tterbot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:tCMzc.29492$sj4.1092@news-
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"toypup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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"ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8a7-
[email hidden]...
> Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart? What
> I'm looking for

is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> the bell curve or some other kind of chart that
> gives you percentile growth of the fetus by the
> gestation week. I want to know what the doctors are
> refering to when they say the baby is in the nth
> percentile for weight, height etc.

Do the docs tell you that? My docs never told me
anything about what percentile my babies were in until
they were born.

that's because there's no way to tell reliably until
they are born. i

can't

Quoted message said:

imagine a responsible person even bringing that
up(!) kylie

I wish you were my Dr!

well, any time you want a completely unqualified doctor, let
me know ;-)

I followed Bonnies growth curve while I was pregnant

Quoted message said:

with her that I still have a hard time not wanting to put
weight on her! Now I just know that she will be about 10%
of the growth curve and try not to worry about it... yeah
right. I had 8 ultra sounds with Bonnie and I have had 3
already with #2.

is this being suggested to you for any reason? if there's no
compelling reason, don't have them - there's nothing they
can tell you beyond what you probably already know.

afaik, up to a certain point in pregnancy (iirc the 3rd
month or so) foetal size (but not development - they will
develop at their own pace whether we want them to or not) is
a good indicator of the gestation week. after the foetus
reaches a certain age, the size estimated by ultrasound is
meaningless. estimating the size of a near full-term foetus
by ultrasound is particularly unreliable & there's simply no
point. kylie

"Tori M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"0tterbot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:tCMzc.29492$sj4.1092@news-
server.bigpond.net.au...

Quoted message said:

"toypup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:9xlzc.22943$Hg2.18203@attbi_s04...

Quoted message said:

"ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8a7-
[email hidden]...
> Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart? What
> I'm looking for

is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> the bell curve or some other kind of chart that
> gives you percentile growth of the fetus by the
> gestation week. I want to know what the doctors are
> refering to when they say the baby is in the nth
> percentile for weight, height etc.

Do the docs tell you that? My docs never told me
anything about what percentile my babies were in until
they were born.

that's because there's no way to tell reliably until
they are born. i

can't

Quoted message said:

imagine a responsible person even bringing that
up(!) kylie

I wish you were my Dr! I followed Bonnies growth curve
while I was

pregnant

Quoted message said:

with her that I still have a hard time not wanting to put
weight on her! Now I just know that she will be about 10%
of the growth curve and try not to worry about it... yeah
right. I had 8 ultra sounds with Bonnie and I have had 3
already with #2.

Tori

Is there a medical reason for all the ultrasounds? I thought
the prevailing wisdom was to limit the ultrasounds.

What's wrong with being at 10 percentile? 🙂 I'm asking
because I was always at the very low end of the weight chart
but above average for height growing up and it made me
nervous that my mother and doctor were nervous.

I also thought it was very difficult to predict birth
weights. If it is, then how can doctors get a reliable
measure of fetal weight over the pregnancy?

Jeanne

"0tterbot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"Tori M." <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"0tterbot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:tCMzc.29492$sj4.1092@news-
server.bigpond.net.au...

Quoted message said:

"toypup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:9xlzc.22943$Hg2.18203@attbi_s04...
>
> "ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8-
> [email hidden]...
> > Does anyone have a url for fetal growth chart?
> > What I'm looking

for

Quoted message said:

is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > the bell curve or some other kind of chart that
> > gives you

percentile

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> > growth of the fetus by the gestation week. I want
> > to know what the doctors are refering to when they
> > say the baby is in the nth percentile for weight,
> > height etc.
>
> Do the docs tell you that? My docs never told me
> anything about

what

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> percentile my babies were in until they were born.

that's because there's no way to tell reliably until
they are born. i

can't

Quoted message said:

imagine a responsible person even bringing that up(!)
kylie

I wish you were my Dr!

well, any time you want a completely unqualified doctor,
let me know ;-)

I followed Bonnies growth curve while I was pregnant

Quoted message said:

with her that I still have a hard time not wanting to
put weight on her! Now I just know that she will be
about 10% of the growth curve and try

not

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to worry about it... yeah right. I had 8 ultra sounds
with Bonnie and I have had 3 already with #2.

is this being suggested to you for any reason? if there's
no compelling reason, don't have them - there's nothing
they can tell you beyond what

you

Quoted message said:

probably already know.

afaik, up to a certain point in pregnancy (iirc the 3rd
month or so)

foetal

Quoted message said:

size (but not development - they will develop at their own
pace whether we want them to or not) is a good indicator
of the gestation week. after the foetus reaches a certain
age, the size estimated by ultrasound is meaningless.
estimating the size of a near full-term foetus by
ultrasound

is

Quoted message said:

particularly unreliable & there's simply no point. kylie

I had so many with bonnie due to my large size and it was a
more acurate way to keep track then a measuring tape would
be. The estimate ended up being almost right on for her
weight at birth. They suspected IUGR with her since she kept
dropping in percentiles.

Tori
--
Bonnie 3/20/02 Anna or Xavier due 10/17/04

"Bruce Bridgman and Jeanne Yang"

Quoted message said:

Is there a medical reason for all the ultrasounds? I
thought the

prevailing

Quoted message said:

wisdom was to limit the ultrasounds.

me too.

Quoted message said:

What's wrong with being at 10 percentile? 🙂 I'm asking
because I was always at the very low end of the weight
chart but above average for

height

Quoted message said:

growing up and it made me nervous that my mother and
doctor were nervous.

i've often wondered that myself. 10th percentile is
certainly normal. under the normal range is abnormally
small. arent' people strange?

i could only imagine worrying about 10th percentile if both
parents were tall or of a big build & one would expect their
baby to be of the same build - it might be a worry in that
case. kylie

Quoted message said:

I also thought it was very difficult to predict birth
weights. If it is, then how can doctors get a reliable
measure of fetal weight over the pregnancy?

Jeanne

"0tterbot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Bruce Bridgman and Jeanne Yang"

Quoted message said:

Is there a medical reason for all the ultrasounds? I
thought the

prevailing

Quoted message said:

wisdom was to limit the ultrasounds.

me too.

Quoted message said:

What's wrong with being at 10 percentile? 🙂 I'm asking
because I was always at the very low end of the weight
chart but above average for

height

Quoted message said:

growing up and it made me nervous that my mother and
doctor were

nervous.

Quoted message said:

i've often wondered that myself. 10th percentile is
certainly normal.

under

Quoted message said:

the normal range is abnormally small. arent' people
strange?

i could only imagine worrying about 10th percentile if
both parents were tall or of a big build & one would
expect their baby to be of the same build - it might be a
worry in that case. kylie

The only reason the 10th percentile was bad was because at 4
months gestation she was at 25% then the the next she was at
20% then the next she was at 15% If she had not been falling
a month behind at each ultrasound I am sure it would have
been fine but she was not growing at the same rate. They,
Drs, said that with IUGR sometimes the baby is not getting
what it needs from the mom and they grow better outside the
womb. Luckily for me the guy at the stage 2 ultrasound said
he thought my due date was wrong and since he was the expert
I got to go into labor naturaly. Bonnie was born 3 days
before the orriginal due date and she was the same size as I
was born 1 month early.

Tori
--
Bonnie 3/20/02 Anna or Xavier due 10/17/04