Hi everyone,

For the past 3 weeks my amniotic fluid has been dropping a fair bit. I'm 31 weeks pregnant. 3 weeks ago my fluid was at 17cm, next week it was at 12cm now last time it was at 8 which the bottom of the normal level for amniotic fluid is at 5cm. I have had scans and an internal and they have found no leaks, placenta seems to be working fine and babies kidneys are working fine too. Has anyone else experienced this? I have a repeat scan next week to see if its dropped again and the obstetrician will decide if I will be having a c/s.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Hi my midwife noticed I measured smaller with DD at 2 days of 40wks, sent for scan DD was little and had 3 measurements of 0 and one measurment of .5cm so basically had no fluid left. They think this is cause she was not getting enough from my placenta so she wasnt peeing. Things start to shut down to save the brain. That all happend on the friday, got induced monday 2 days failed induction had c-sect on the wednsday and she was born 5lp 5oz, this time im being monitored for IUGR, one of the first signs of this is low fluid. She is now 3.5years and a small but reasonably healthy little girl loves to climb and get upto mischief lol.

Try not to worry to much, no doubt you will be having another scan soon and maybe have regular scans to keep an eye on it, adventurely they may suggest bubs would be better out than in but you still have way more liquid than I did and they allowed DD to stay in for 5 more days after finding out before they did the c-section.

take care and let us know how you get on smile

It is worth being cautious, but one of the easiest things you can try is to keep well hydrated, try to drink an extra 2 or 3 glasses of water a day. Babies start to drink more fluid in the 3rd trimester, so you should try and keep your fluid intake up which may help. It is only one of the things that are associated with IUGR, more worrying signs include measurements of body parts becoming uneven, the head may continue to grow but body growth and weight gain slows and also abnormal cord blood flow or reduced fatal movements. If any of these signs are present then the doctor will usually induce your labour. I have seen many babies with low fluid index but otherwise normal scans go on to full term with no complications. I am a sonographer who has been scanning babies as a specialty for more than 10 years. Just follow your obstetricians advice and they will do whatever is needed to ensure your bub is ok. Good luck!