Was your baby induced for being "too big"?

This is a very common occurrence in modern maternity care. We often hear people being told that their baby is too big or their pelvis too small. But remember, babies heads mould (bones overlap) and our pelvis is not a solid structure, it stretches and moves. All this is designed to accommodate birth! And generally, we grow babies that fit us!

WHAT DEFINES A BIG BABY?

Big baby is over 4000g or 9lb or if your baby is measuring persistently above the 95th centile on growth charts. These should be individualised charts tailored to your ethnicity and any previous children etc. Remember ultrasound is not very accurate at measuring a baby birth weight (up to 25% out) so it may turn out that induction was unnecessary if baby is born a normal size.

In the absence of any other indications, induction of labour should not be carried out simply because healthcare provider suspects baby is large for gestational age.

Babies induced for being "BIG" are in fact a perfect size for their parents and a large percentage of lOLs are indeed unnecessary.