What this is about
During your pregnancy, your midwife will do routine checks and take measurements of your stomach to understand how well your baby is growing. If these measurements suggest that your baby may not be growing as expected, you will be offered closer monitoring and, in some cases, planning for an early birth might be recommended.
What we are doing:
At your first appointment, your midwife will ask you a few questions to help decide if you should be offered additional checks and scans.
From 24 weeks of pregnancy your midwife will check how your baby is growing by measuring your bump with a tape measure at each appointment; this measurement is known as the Symphysis Fundal Height (SFH).
The measurement is recorded or ‘plotted’ on a paper chart in your blue notes, where you and your midwife can see if your baby is growing as expected.
You might see a sticker saying: “Measure, Plot, Where’s the Dot?” on your notes. This is to remind everybody of the importance of checking your baby’s growth.
How this helps you
If your midwife has any concerns about your baby’s growth from this measurement, you will be offered an ultrasound scan within 72 hours. If the scan confirms that your baby is not growing as expected, your midwife and doctor will discuss with you what additional care can be offered.
Our progress
- All community midwives have now received extra training, and we know by looking at the data that this has improved care.
- In May 2022, only 43% of pregnant women had all growth measurements (SFH) plotted. After introducing a prompt on our electronic system in October 2022, this rose to 67%. The “Measure, Plot, Where’s the Dot?” campaign in late 2024 increased this further to 73%.
- Thanks to this work, the percentage of babies born ‘small’ at term and needing a lot of support has reduced steadily in NHS Lothian over the last few years, from 41% to 35%
What you can do
Talk to your midwife about how they are measuring your baby’s growth. You can also ask your midwife to explain what the measurements on the graph show and what they mean about your baby’s development.
