The
detection process...
There are various ways to detect 'small for dates' baby
and most of these methods are not effective on their
own. They need to be combined to arrive at something
concrete and relevant.
• Your doctor will feel your abdomen and/or measure
your fundal height
• A detailed ultrasound will measure baby size,
amniotic fluid and the rate the blood is flowing through
the umbilical cord. These tests will be combined to
show how well your baby is progressing.
• If the ultrasound shows that everything is normal
then it is just a case of your baby being small.
• If the ultrasound shows that all is not well
then you will need to go for repeat tests every 2-4
weeks
• If the detection is made in your second trimester,
you may have to follow up with an amnio to rule out
chromosomal abnormalities
• You may be offered blood tests to check for
infection or blood clotting abnormalities; this depends
on case to case
• Your baby will be monitored with nonstress tests,
biophysical profiles and possibly Doppler sonography.
You will also be asked to do daily fetal kick counts
• Measuring the trend of growth is important (this
is plotted on a chart for record). After all, your baby
could be small in size but healthy.
• Baby's weight and size could depend on factors
such as mother's own height and weight, gender of baby,
if it is the first baby or later baby (later babies
tend to be bigger), ethnicity
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