Excess Amniotic Fluid
I am 32 weeks pregnant and have a raised fundal height (38cm). The midwife suspects polyhydramnios and so I am to be booked in for an additional scan next week, to be on the safe side. What is polyhydramnios and how will it affect my pregnancy? Sharon.
The difficulty is, it is a very rough estimation. If you are tall, there is more room for your uterus - which is why people often say that tall women who are pregnant often look 'small'. If you are small and short-waisted, the uterus has less space, and this may be the reason that your uterus is measuring bigger than average at this stage of your pregnancy.
More fluid than usual may mean just that - more fluid than usual at your stage of pregnancy. A huge amount of excess fluid is called polyhydramnios and can be caused by lots of things.
Polyhydramnios is more common in diabetic mothers, so I expect you will have had a GTT (Glucose Tolerance Test) as well.
One of the other causes could be that the baby is not swallowing and/or excreting the fluid properly, which would need to be investigated.
The first step is to wait for the results of your scan next week, which will ascertain if you do have more fluid, and if so, how much.
Excess fluid is not dangerous for your baby, but if it became very severe, the hospital would want to try and investigate why it was happening, and whether the baby was swallowing the fluid properly.
Absolutely nothing needs to be done at the moment. The hospital will monitor you over the next few weeks to see if the excess fluid settles down to a 'normal' amount, stays the same, or becomes more. It is quite likely that the next time you have a scan, your fluid will be back to the 'average' amount.
I hope this helps.
Best wishes, Christine
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