{"id":5341,"date":"2026-06-29T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T12:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/?page_id=5341"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:49:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T12:49:47","slug":"pregnancy-care-knowing-when-a-baby-is-not-growing-well-easy-read","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/pregnancy-care-knowing-when-a-baby-is-not-growing-well-easy-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Pregnancy Care – knowing when a baby is not growing well – Easy Read"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pregnancy Care – knowing when a baby is not growing well<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What this is about<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"pregnancy<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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When you are pregnant your midwife will do checks and measure your tummy. This is to monitor how well your baby is growing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"health<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What we are doing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"first<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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At your first appointment, your midwife will ask you questions. These will help decide if you should have more checks and scans. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"bump<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From 24 weeks of pregnancy your midwife will measure your bump with a tape measure at each appointment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"progress\"<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Measure<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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You might see a sticker saying Measure, Plot, Where\u2019s the Dot?<\/strong> on your notes. This is to remind everybody how important it is to check your baby\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How this helps you<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"scan\"<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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If your midwife has concerns about your baby\u2019s growth you will be offered a scan within 3 days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"scan<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Our progress<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"community<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"mat<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Our Programme covers 5 main areas of maternity and neonatal care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"stats\"<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What you can do<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"measurement<\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Talk to your midwife about how she is measuring your baby\u2019s growth. You can ask them to explain what the measurements mean.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Read more detail about this topic<\/a><\/strong> <\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pregnancy Care – knowing when a baby is not growing well What this is about 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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":309,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-5341","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"scottsamson","author_link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/author\/scottsamson\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"Pregnancy Care – knowing when a baby is not growing well What this is about 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","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5341"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5955,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5341\/revisions\/5955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}