It does not hurt the baby. The baby is big enough to feel where the head is. Unborn babies change position frequently during this phase of pregnancy and are quite often in a breech position bottom down or lying across your belly in a transverse position. The size of your uterus should be approximately relevant to how far pregnant you are. The baby is more than likely in a head down position. Babies at this stage do not usually move their head from being down now because their head is much larger and heavier, but their back can move frequently from one side of your belly to the other.
The uterus reaches the base of your breast bone or sternum by about 36 to 37 weeks. After 24 weeks of pregnancy, the fundal height in centimeters is roughly equivalent to the week of gestation. Between weeks 37 and 40, your baby starts to descend into your pelvis in preparation for birth, so the measurement of fundal height begins to decrease.
An ultrasound wand sends sound waves that bounce off of your baby to produce the image you see on screen. Doctors begin measuring fundal height at around week 20 of your pregnancy and at every prenatal appointment until your baby is born. Ultrasound can also be used to help estimate your baby's weight. In the first trimester, ultrasound is helpfully for confirming your estimated due date by measuring your baby's crown-to-rump length, or the distance between the top of the baby's head to his bottom.
In the third trimester, ultrasound can be used to measure various parts of your baby's body to estimate his size and weight and ensure that everything is progressing as expected. As you reach the end of your pregnancy, you may be eager to know exactly how big your baby will be at delivery. And while ultrasounds are very safe, doctors recommend against unnecessary ultrasounds during pregnancy. Every mom is a different size and shape, as is every baby inside.
Measuring bigger or smaller than the average is usually perfectly normal. In fact, research suggests fundal height measurements are often off by two weeks in non-obese women. If your fundal height shows a discrepancy of more than three weeks at any point during your pregnancy, your health care practitioner may investigate the reason why.
Health care practitioners use the first day of your last menstrual period to get a general idea of when your baby is due, but conception could have happened earlier or later. If your practitioner thinks the original estimate was off, he or she may change your estimated due date. Rarely, measurements that are larger or smaller than expected may be linked to other conditions.
Small measurements might indicate too little amniotic fluid or intrauterine growth restriction , while larger measurements may be a sign of uncontrolled gestational diabetes, a uterine fibroid or too much amniotic fluid. If we combine this information with your PHI, we will treat all of that information as PHI, and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of e-mail communications at any time by clicking on the Unsubscribe link in the e-mail.
Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.
Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only.
This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. See more conditions. Request Appointment. Healthy Lifestyle Pregnancy week by week. Products and services. What's the significance of a fundal height measurement?
0コメント