A “big baby” is one of the top reasons for a suggested induction for pregnant people. But did you know that ultrasound offers less accuracy after the 37th week of pregnancy and can be off up to 15% of the estimated weight?
In this episode of Yoga |Birth |Babies I speak with founder and author of Evidence Based Birth®, Rebecca L. Dekker, PhD, RN, APRN. Rebecca and I had a chance to speak about a problem many pregnant people face towards the end of their pregnancy, macrosomia, also know as “big babies.” This important conversation helps break through myths and common concerns of birthing a big baby. Rebecca also give sound advice to those who may face this issue as well as great tools for birth workers to discuss with their clients.
In this episode:
- Rebecca’s process and approach as a researcher writing articles for Evidence Based Birth.
- What is macrosomia? What it means and how common it is.
- Factors to be considered when determining if a baby is big.
- Methods commonly used to determine estimations of fetal weight and their accuracy of the estimations
- Some of the assumed issues that a care provider is concerned about when delivering a presumed large baby
- Does a presumed large baby move the mother into a “high risk” category if she was not previously categorized as high risk? How this might change her management of care.
- Options for women who are told by their care provider that their baby is measuring big and have been suggested to induce early or have a cesarean section.
- Suggestions for a person to advocate for themself when facing a care provider who has labeled her baby as macrosomia.
- A fun tip for new and expectant parents from Rebecca!
About Rebecca:
Rebecca Dekker is the founder of Evidence Based Birth® and the author of Babies Are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered! Dr. Dekker is the mother of three children, and she has earned a bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD in Nursing. She has built a strong reputation in maternal and infant health circles for her pioneering work as the founder of Evidence Based Birth.® The mission of EBB is to raise the quality of childbirth care globally, by putting accurate, evidence based research into the hands of families and communities, so they can make informed, empowered choices.
An excerpt from Rebecca’s book, Babies Are Not Pizzas:
“Maybe you’re pregnant right now! If so, it’s critical that you gather a team of people around you whom you can trust. When you think about your care situation, ask yourself, “What does my provider routinely do?” not, “Will they make an exception for my birth plan?” If they routinely induce ALL of their patients at 39 weeks, “require” vaginal exams (plus membrane sweeping) starting at 37 weeks, have a high Cesarean rate, have violated women’s rights during childbirth in the past, or routinely start predicting a “big baby” in the beginning of your third trimester, then that’s the kind of care that you’re almost guaranteed to get. If you see any of these red flags, or you feel uncomfortable at all, my advice to you is run away from them, as fast as possible, and find somebody else!”
You can follow Dr. Dekker by signing up for her newsletter at the home page of http://EvidenceBasedBirth.com, and you can follow EBB on Facebook (https://facebook.com/evidencebasedbirth) and Instagram (@ebbirth). Her book, Babies Are Not Pizzas, is available on Amazon.”
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