Child 4 kg at birth. Myths and truth about large newborns. What reasons can lead to high birth weight of a newborn?
In fact, all this goes back to ancient times. Endless wars, hunger and devastation - all this negatively affected the nutrition and health of many future mothers - our great-great-great-grandmothers. In this regard, the birth large child in those old times was a guarantee that the child could at least survive. As a result of this, a natural fear for the life of the baby arose, and over time it turned into a general desire to give birth to large babies. It is because of this that today heavy children are almost a source of pride for their mother. Is this a reason to be proud, or is it a reason to worry? Now we will debunk common myths and understand everything...
What are the risks if a difficult baby is born?
A Lower Hutt mother has given birth to one of the region's largest babies - a boy weighing 16lb 4oz - twice the average newborn weight. The boy was so big that his mother could not bend over. It meant it took three hours to be admitted to Wellington Hospital for epidural treatment before he was finally delivered by caesarean section on Monday.
Causes of weight anomalies
His parents, who did not want to be identified, said he was happy and healthy and measured 57cm in length. "People are calling him the next Jonah Lomu, but we think he will be a concert pianist," the father said. During the last two months of pregnancy, doctors predicted he would weigh about 14 pounds.
The first myth. A large child is known to be strong and healthy
First you need to figure out how much a child must weigh in order to be classified as a large child? If the baby weighs up to 3 kg, this is considered normal. If a child weighs 4-5 kg at birth, the fetus is large; doctors call children weighing more than 5 kg “giants”. At the same time, such strong men are taller. For example, if the normal “height” of a fetus is considered to be from 48 to 54 cm, then for large children this figure can be equal to 54-56 cm. What is special about such dimensions?
It is more difficult for a large child to develop under the mother’s heart, and it is more difficult to be born. There is a possibility of developing intrauterine hypoxia (oxygen starvation) in the fetus, and during childbirth (which, by the way, is more difficult and longer than usual), the child faces a state of asphyxia (cessation of oxygen supply). In addition, large children when passing through narrow birth canal and at birth can be injured (dislocations, hematomas, fractures).
“We are not that tall, so we don’t know where his size comes from - in currently we think he's probably just a big baby." This is his mother's second boy, her first was also big boy weighing 8 pounds or 4 kg. New baby will bypass regular newborn diapers, which are usually suitable for children up to 5 kg. He can go straight to the third size, called the caterpillar, as they fit children weighing between 6kg and 11kg.
The boy is more than twice the average weight of a newborn boy and weighs about the same as a 20-week-old baby, according to Department of Health growth charts. The baby's length placed him in the sixth percentile for male newborns.
Little “giants” often have a predisposition to diabetes, obesity, and are prone to the disease of the 21st century - allergies. They are also more likely to have neurological disorders(tremor and restlessness).
Large babies are more often diagnosed with purulent-septic complications at birth (for example, inflammation umbilical wound etc.), which is associated with primary immunodeficiency(decreased immunoglobulin content).
The baby's length and weight would soon see him in clothes for six-month babies, which are suitable for children from 6 to 8 kg. Birth plans are developed with mothers ahead of delivery and are individually based. In some cases - for example, if the baby is too large to move through the birth canal, a caesarean section will be offered as the best option for birth.
Care postpartum birth for particularly large children, this often includes maintaining blood sugar levels and regular meals. If the child needs additional care, this can be provided in our department intensive care newborns.
Second myth. Only large and tall parents give birth to large children
In fact, the birth of a large baby from tall, healthy and harmoniously developed parents can be considered a hereditary and physiologically determined phenomenon. But the risk of having large children increases for those parents who were themselves born large, although they reached average height as they grew up.
Brian Liddle Jr. was one of the biggest babies ever born in Australia and was twice the average weight. The baby, who has not yet been named, is 55cm tall. A team of three doctors used special maneuvers during the three-hour procedure to deliver the baby. Anjali's mother Sugur was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday morning after she went into labor and was admitted at 10 am. This is her fourth child and the delivery was normal.
What reasons can lead to high birth weight of a newborn?
India's heaviest baby was a girl born in Surat last year. The normal weight of an Indian newborn is between 5 and 5 kg. The first three children were delivered at home. She checked in shortly after her pregnancy was discovered and was regular in her checkups. Last year the hospital delivered a 3 kg baby.
Large babies are given birth to mothers with long hair menstrual cycles, due to which the pregnancy period is extended by 1-2 weeks. The baby is not born post-term, but simply noticeably improved. 
There is also a high probability of giving birth to a hero among those women who have already given birth to large children in the past. This is due to the peculiarities of the uteroplacental circulation. The large volume and impressive size of the placenta stimulate metabolism and fetal development. Much great danger represents long-term use medicines, which normalize uteroplacental blood circulation and contribute to the birth of “giants”.
Doctors said she would have landed the baby and herself in trouble if she had not come to the hospital for delivery. It was good decision, accepted by the family, since such a huge child requires a qualified doctor. She would be risking her and the baby's life otherwise, Dr. Katke said.
Risk factors for having a large baby
The doctors were surprised that such huge baby was delivered by a nondiabetic mother. Usually children with overweight delivered by diabetic mothers. In Anjali's case, we knew the baby was huge, but since she was not diabetic, we were worried.
Some large babies are born due to illnesses of their parents. For example, in mothers who suffered diabetes mellitus, or with impaired processes of glucose absorption, as well as with impaired metabolism, resulting in cord blood the fetus has an excessive amount of glucose - this leads to overweight bodies. Almost the same scenario of “gigantism” is typical for children whose mothers have chronic obesity. Moreover, a child can have an impressive weight if his father is obese.
Are these tough guys as healthy as they seem?
The child is currently under observation in the neonatal intensive care unit. These overweight children are prone to developing hyperglycemic conditions, in which the amount of glucose in the blood is lower than normal. His sugar levels were low yesterday, Dr. Katke said.
Maybe the high weight of the newborn is due to the fact that the pregnant woman “eats for two”?
The mother often asked the child to breastfeed. “Such children should be fed more often than normal newborn, because they need more glucose,” added Dr. Katke. Meanwhile, Anjali and her family can't wait to take the new family member home. I am very glad that my child is so healthy.
By the way, according to statistics, in Lately noted overall increase weight of newborns. Perhaps the point is to improve the working conditions, living conditions and nutrition of women during pregnancy. These studies prove that the number of newborns who weighed 4 kg or more at birth is approximately 5-10%, and 50 years ago this figure was 05-1%.
Dr Sudeshna Ray, consultant gynecologist and obstetrician, Jaslok Hospital and member of the committee on medical disorders during pregnancy, said, “It is difficult for the mother and obstetrician to feed an overweight baby properly.” “Overweight babies are born to a mother with diabetes during pregnancy, the mother has excess weight gain during pregnancy, or where the woman has delivered more than two children before,” Dr. Ray added.
When we think about birth, we often think about the size of the baby. There are so many jokes and fears about huge children in movies, advertisements and even among friends. But is baby size something we really need to worry about? First, it helps to understand some basic definitions big baby, and what it really means.
The third myth. More food for the big child
The desire to give birth to a healthy and strong baby is increasingly pushing expectant mothers to eat a lot. They begin to eat for two, and sometimes for three and a small group. With such a rich diet and a growing belly, it becomes more difficult to move, and because of this, according to the law of conservation of energy, the mother develops obesity and the risk of giving birth to a large child increases.
The fourth myth. Nature helps mothers when giving birth to large children
Alas, this does not always happen, so during the birth of a large baby, both he and his mother suffer, for example, due to too early or late effusion amniotic fluid or due to a weak uterus, since the muscles of this organ are overstretched large fruit when moving through the birth canal. We don’t want to scare women, but when a large child is born, doctors are forced to use an emergency caesarean section, and if labor is active, then resort to episiotomy (cutting the perineum) to prevent possible ruptures. In the postpartum period, bleeding and involution of the uterus (slow reduction in its size), hypogalactia (insufficient milk production) and anemia (lack of hemoglobin in the blood) may be observed.
Fifth myth. A baby's weight cannot be controlled before birth
Are there reliable patterns in changes in newborn weight?
Macrosomia literally means " big body"and is medical term for a big child. A baby is considered macrosomic if it weighs 4 kg or more. Other experts define macrosomia as a child weighing 5 kg or more. The average size a full-fledged child is 4 kg. Remember that average is just average. Some babies will be smaller and others will be much larger. This is how we calculate the average by coming up with an average figure. So there is a wide range normal values.
Yes, you cannot put a child in the womb on a diet. But the expectant mother, especially one who belongs to the group increased risk, should give up cakes, pickles, buns and smoked meats in benefit of easy And healthy food. And no strict diets! It is necessary to ensure correct balanced diet. Everything is very simple: energy value diet expectant mother should be in the range of 2000-2200 kcal per day (120 g of protein, 250 g of carbohydrates and 65 g of fat), and for obesity this figure should not exceed 1200 kcal. And don’t be lazy to combine your diet with daily walks and exercise, such as swimming, yoga or water aerobics.
Our babies learn a lot from their parents before they are born. So why not give your baby a lesson in tasty and healthy living?
When a baby is born, the first thing obstetricians do is record the time of birth. Then the newborn is bathed from birth lubricant, mother's blood and amniotic fluid. And then comes the most important process examining the child, weighing him and measuring his height. This is exactly the information that the new father will ask after determining the gender of the child. Average weight a newborn, provided the mother is 40 weeks pregnant, is 3-4 kg. But there are cases when mothers give birth to babies who are under 3 kg and vice versa - large babies whose weight is more than 4 kg. As a rule, all relatives, including the husband, are proud of a woman who managed to bear a large child, and speak reproachfully about her if the weight of her baby is too small.
If we define a large baby as ≥5kg, about 8% of Australian babies are considered macrosomic or large. While having a large baby may increase the risk of certain complications at birth, having a large baby does not automatically equal having a baby high risk. We hear about height scans, percentages and weights before the baby is even born, leading to the idea that the baby's size is extremely important. While a child's size can affect performance, there are many myths surrounding just how much it affects it.
As a rule, doctors, speaking about a newborn from 4 kg, call him a large baby and, accordingly, they call a child with less weight a low birth weight baby. However, not a single doctor has yet maternity ward did not call a large child healthier and more resilient than small babies.
#1: A baby can be accurately diagnosed as macrosomic before birth
Here are 5 myths about babies and macrosomic birth. Although we have ways to estimate the size of a child in prenatal period, they are just educated guesses. The only way find out the actual size of the baby - weigh and measure them after birth.
Measuring the height of your foundation is a good way to track overall growth. This tells us that the pregnancy is progressing. Although it plays a role in monitoring growth, the height of the foundation cannot give us Exact size child. Fluid, placenta size, and baby's position can affect measurements.
On the contrary, any deviation from the “golden mean” up or down indicates possible problems with the health of the mother or her child. Before you get scared and give yourself and your baby false diagnoses, I recommend taking into account the mother’s weight category. For example, a child born weighing 2.5 kg in an equally small and fragile woman will be the norm for the small weight of a newborn child and will not cause any suspicion of a problem among doctors. The same applies to large women.
The Leopold maneuver, a special way of touching or feeling the baby, can be of some help in estimating the baby's size. Feeling the baby, figuring out the baby's position and base height can act as one piece of the puzzle of guessing the baby's size.
Ultrasounds offer a look inside the uterus, a way to check on the baby before it is born. This is an excellent diagnostic tool, but it still has limitations. Early in the first trimester, ultrasound offers fairly accurate size estimates because early development child is pretty standard. But as pregnancy progresses and genetics emerge, the baby's measurement becomes less accurate.
Newborn weight parameters.
- From 2 to 3 kg is a low weight indicator.
- From 3 to 4 kg is the average weight.
- From 4 or more – high rate weight.
Hefty baby.
According to statistics, nowadays a lot of large children are born, which most often indicates pathologies of the mother. During pregnancy, women learn about the estimated weight category of the fetus at 20-22 weeks after an ultrasound. If her baby's weight seems too high in relation to the mother's body characteristics ( narrow pelvis), they will recommend her special diet for weight loss. If, before the expected date of birth, the weight of the baby could not be adjusted, the mother will be offered to give birth through caesarean section to pass possible problems during childbirth, both for the woman and for the child.
Each infant measurement method produces a score. When all of them are used together, they can give an educated guess. However, there is a measurable error rate, so we must remember that this is really just an estimate. While certain risk factors - for example - can increase the likelihood of having a big baby, this does not guarantee it.
With different suppliers using various definitions macrosomia, it is recommended to ask your provider what weight they use to define a large baby. If we use 5 kg as a defining weight, then only 7% of babies born are considered large.
The main rule of caring for a strong man is to maintain healthy image life, a balanced diet, excluding high levels of milk consumption, daily walks on fresh air and the beginning of complementary feeding with fruit mixtures. And when calculating nutrition, the mother should focus not on the actual weight of the child, but on the average weight of children of his age.
Overall, women have a 1 in 10 chance of having babies weighing more than 4kg. If you have gestational diabetes, you have a 7% chance of having a baby over 4kg and a 6% chance of having a baby over 5kg. So while the risk is increasing, it is still far from a guarantee. Women who treat their gestational diabetes can even reduce their risk of getting their big baby infected by 50%.
How is diabetes in pregnant women related to high birth weight of the newborn?
Maybe, greater risk arises from undiagnosed or untreated gestational diabetes. Mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes have the opportunity to monitor their diet, stay active and exercise, and monitor their blood sugars. If a mother is borderline, doesn't watch her sugars and doesn't follow a diabetes-friendly diet, she runs the risk of having a large baby. Some studies even indicate a 20% increased risk of having a large baby. For this reason, regular physical exercise And healthy diet for the whole body, ideal for all expectant mothers.
Causes of weight anomalies
| The birth of a hero | Birth of a baby |
| Diabetes mellitus in the child's mother. | Chronic diseases a woman's heart serious illnesses kidneys, lungs. |
| Rhesus conflict between mother and child | Multiple pregnancy. |
| Post-term pregnancy. | Defects of the uterus and placenta are usually congenital. |
| Unbalanced nutrition of a woman during pregnancy, overeating is possible. | Alcohol and smoking abuse during pregnancy. |
| Hereditary characteristics. | Excessive consumption drinks with high content caffeine |
| Second and subsequent births. | Poor nutrition, ecology, sexually transmitted infections. |
Within a few days of a newborn's life, physiological weight loss occurs, and in large children it occurs a little faster than in others. This allows the child to adapt more quickly and balance his weight. If this does not happen, doctors will monitor the weight of the newborn until it decreases to the average level. In addition, large babies tend to have weakened immune systems, impaired blood circulation and metabolism, and are at risk for diseases such as rickets, anemia and obesity.
There is a 2% chance of having a baby over 4kg and a 1% chance of having a baby over 5kg. However, this is a risk factor, not a guarantee. All expectant moms should do their best to eat a whole food diet and maintain healthy levels activities that are considered safe by their suppliers medical services. Pregnancy is not the time to try fad diets or try to lose weight. This is a great time to try lifestyle changes!
#4: Big baby means high risk birth
One of the most important things to remember about the average baby weight is that it is simply that, average. Many large babies are born without any complications. Some high-risk births include children younger age. Many women worry about cephalopod imbalance, which is when the baby's head is too large to fit through mom's pelvis. Big child not equal to a large head or too large to fit through mom's pelvis.
