Pregnancy Care – knowing when a baby is not growing well – Easy Read

When you are pregnant your midwife will do checks and measure your tummy. This is to monitor how well your baby is growing.

These checks might show that your baby is not growing as it should. If that happens you will be offered more checks. In some cases planning for an early birth might be recommended.

At your first appointment, your midwife will ask you questions. These will help decide if you should have more checks and scans. 

From 24 weeks of pregnancy your midwife will measure your bump with a tape measure at each appointment.

The measurement is recorded on a paper chart in your notes. You and your midwife can see from this if your baby is growing as it should.

You might see a sticker saying Measure, Plot, Where’s the Dot? on your notes. This is to remind everybody how important it is to check your baby’s growth.

If your midwife has concerns about your baby’s growth you will be offered a scan within 3 days.

If the scan shows that your baby is not growing as it should your midwife and doctor will talk to you about what care can be offered.

All community midwives have been given extra training. We have improved our system for measuring the growth of babies. We know this has improved care.

Our Programme covers 5 main areas of maternity and neonatal care.

There are fewer babies born small and needing a lot of support. This is because of the work we have been doing over the last few years.

Talk to your midwife about how she is measuring your baby’s growth. You can ask them to explain what the measurements mean.