Pregnant? There’s a way of telling whether your baby will have a big head

Worrying about labour is a natural part of being pregnant, especially for first-time mums.

We've all seen the TV shows and films, read the books and online forums and scared ourselves sh*tless worrying about how much pain we reckon we're going to be in. A chief concern for many mamas-to-be is how big their baby's head might be and therefore how much stretching and tearing their poor lady parts are in for. Now, science has come far enough to tell us exactly what we're in for. As you know, your doctor tracks baby's development all throughout your pregnancy and one of the things they monitor is the the head size to check for possible health issues. According to Romper, doctors tend to measure the diameter and circumference of the head during a scan in the second trimester. The other way to tell? Simple genetics. It may seem obvious but according to the US Fetal Medicine Foundation, a baby is significantly more likely to be born with a big head if one or both of their parents has a big head. It's worth noting that a big head, also called macrocephaly, may be a little sorer for Mum, but it doesn't necessarily mean health problems for your baby. It could even be a good thing - a study by scientists at UK Biobank found that head circumference and larger brains are now proven to be associated with superior intelligence. Just one in every 100 babies is born with a bigger-than-average head so it's not too likely that you'll be affected.