AbstractRecent literature has suggested that total intrauterine volume (TIUV) estimation is useful for distinguishing normal from growth‐retarded fetuses. One hundred seventy‐nine measurements of TIUV were obtained from the ultrasonograms taken between 21 and 40 weeks of gestation in 140 patients who delivered average birthweight babies. We constructed a mean curve for TIUV with upper and lower 2.5 and 10% tolerance limits and later evaluated the TIUV's of 16 patients with growth‐retarded fetuses. Nine of these fetuses had birthweights below the fifth percentile for gestational age, and in each of these pregnancies the TIUV ultimately fell below the lower 2.5% tolerance