The REAL Problem with Expecting a "Big Baby"

We have an entire article breaking down the truth about expecting a big baby here, but today we wanted to share with you some of our favorite insights from that article. 

Expecting a Big Baby?

As an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor and Certified Birth Doula specializing in over 10 years in the hospital environment, no other topic creates such frustration and strife for me and my business partner Marnie, and our clients preparing for birth than being told by their health care provider they’re pregnant with a big baby. 

(Please note, in this post we are talking about low risk pregnancies such as those without the diagnosis of gestational diabetes - which can in fact increase the risk of carrying a large baby)

The Truth About Expecting a Big Baby

In the article, we discuss many common misconceptions about expecting a big baby and provide you with evidence-based truths instead.

For example:

The only way to 100% tell if you have a “Big Baby” is to weigh it at birth! 

Another hard truth we share is that the mere suspicion of being pregnant with a big baby carries more risks and has proven to be more harmful than actually delivering a big baby.

We also discuss the assumption that ultrasound predictions for babies’ birth weights are accurate…The truth is: There’s no way to diagnose a “big baby” before birth! Ultrasounds are right about 50% of the time when they predict a big baby and wrong about 50% of the time! They have a 15% margin of error above and below. 

These are just three of the evidence-based facts we share about being pregnant with a big baby, so be sure to check out the rest of the article on the Hospital Doulas’ website.

In Summary: Don’t Panic!

We’ve seen great strides being made in our 10 years of serving as certified doulas in the hospital setting, such as reduced episiotomy rates. But there is still a long way to go! And this is particularly true when it comes to what expectant parents are told about being pregnant with a big baby. 

Lisa Collins, MA., CD(DONA), ProDoula, Evidence Based Birth® Instructor

Marnie Lea, RDH., CD(ProDoula)

Co-Founders of The Hospital Doulas & Associates LLC

For the Gold Standard of Online Hospital Birth Preparation please go to:https://www.thehospitaldoulascircle.com

For list and discussion of all risks and benefits see:

https://evidencebasedbirth.com 

EBB® pdf Evidence on: Big Babies Rebecca Dekker, PhD., RN

EBB® Signature Article – Evidence on: Induction or Cesarean for a Big Baby 2019