Baby 4 kg at birth. Myths and truth about large newborns. What causes can lead to a large weight of the newborn
In fact, all this has gone back to ancient times. Endless wars, hunger and devastation - all this negatively affected the nutrition and health of many expectant mothers - our great-great-great-grandmothers. For this reason, the birth big baby 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 crumbs appeared, 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 matter of pride for mothers. Is this a reason to be proud, or is it grounds for worry? Now we will debunk common myths and understand everything ...
What are the risks if a difficult child is born?
The Lower Hutt mother gave birth to one of the largest babies in the region, a boy weighing 16 pounds 4 ounces, twice the average weight of a newborn. The boy was so big that his mother could not bend down. This meant it took three hours to be admitted to Wellington Hospital to receive an epidural treatment before he was finally delivered by C-section on Monday.
Causes of weight anomalies
The parents, who didn't want to be named, said he was happy and healthy and measured 57cm in length. “People call him the next John Lomu, but we think he will be a concert pianist,” said the father. During the last two months of pregnancy, doctors predicted that he weighed about 14 pounds.
First myth. A large child is obviously strong and healthy
First you need to figure out how much a child should weigh in order to be classified as large children? If the baby weighs up to 3 kg - this is considered the norm. 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 have more growth. For example, if it is considered normal to consider the “growth” of the fetus 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 (by the way, they are more difficult and longer than usual), the child is threatened with 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 do not know where his size comes from - in this moment we think he's probably just a big kid." This is the 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 babies up to 5 kg. It can go straight to the third size called caterpillar as they fit kids weighing between 6kg and 11kg.
According to the growth charts of the Ministry of Health, the boy is more than twice the average weight of a newborn boy and weighs about the same as a 20-week-old baby. The baby's length placed him in the sixth percentile of newborn boys.
Little "giants" often have a predisposition to diabetes, obesity, have a tendency to the disease of the 21st century - allergies. They are also more likely to have neurological disorders(tremor and restlessness).
In large babies at birth, purulent-septic complications are more often diagnosed (for example, inflammation umbilical wound etc.), which is associated with primary immunodeficiency(decrease in the content of immunoglobulins).
The length and weight of the baby would soon see him wearing six-month-old baby clothes that are suitable for babies 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 childbirth for especially large children often includes maintaining blood sugar levels and regular meals. If a child needs extra care, this can be provided at our department. intensive care newborns.
Second myth. Only large and tall parents give birth to large children
In fact, the birth of a large child in tall, healthy and harmoniously developed parents can be considered a hereditary and physiologically conditioned phenomenon. But the risk of having large children increases in those parents who themselves were born large, although they reached an average height when they grew up.
Brian Liddle Jr. was one of the largest babies ever born in Australia and was twice the average weight. The baby, who has not yet been named, is 55 cm tall. A team of three doctors used special maneuvers during the three-hour procedure to deliver the baby. Anjali Sugur's mother was taken to the hospital on Tuesday morning after she entered labor and was brought in at 10 am. This is her fourth child and the delivery was normal.
What causes can lead to a large weight of the newborn?
The heaviest baby in India was a girl born in Surat last year. The normal weight of an Indian newborn is 5 to 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 born by mothers with long menstrual cycles, because of which the gestational age is extended by 1-2 weeks. The child is born not post-term, but simply noticeably recovered. 
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 the metabolism and development of the fetus. Much great danger represents a long-term intake medicines, which normalize uteroplacental circulation and contribute to the birth of "giants".
According to doctors, she would have landed the baby and herself in trouble if she had not come to the hospital for delivery. It was good decision adopted by the family as this huge baby needs a qualified doctor. She would have risked her and the baby's life otherwise, Dr. Katke said.
Risk factors for having a large baby
Doctors were surprised that such huge baby was delivered by a non-diabetic mother. Usually children with overweight delivered by diabetic mothers. In Anjali's case, we knew the baby was huge, but since she didn't have diabetes, we were worried.
Some large babies are born due to diseases of their parents. For example, mothers who suffered diabetes, or with impaired glucose uptake processes, as well as with impaired metabolism, resulting in cord blood the fetus turns out to be an excessive amount of glucose - this leads to overweight body. Almost the same scenario of "gigantism" is characteristic of children whose mothers have chronic obesity. Moreover, a child can have an impressive weight if his father is obese.
Are these strong men 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 below normal. His blood sugar was low yesterday, Dr. Katke said.
Maybe the large weight of the newborn is due to the fact that the pregnant woman “eats for two”?
The mother often asked the child to breastfeed the child. “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 happy that my baby is so healthy.
Incidentally, according to statistics, recent times celebrated overall increase newborn weight. Perhaps the point is to improve working conditions, life 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 a mother and an obstetrician to feed an overweight child normally." “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 babies before,” added Dr. Rey.
When we think about giving birth, we often think about the size of the baby. There is so much jokes and fear of huge babies in movies, commercials and even among friends. But is baby size something we really need to worry about? First, it helps to understand some of the basics of the definition big baby, and what it actually means.
Third myth. big baby more food
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 company. Moving with such a rich diet and a growing belly becomes more difficult, and because of this, according to the law of conservation of energy, mommy develops obesity and increases the risk of giving birth to a large child.
Fourth myth. At the birth of large children, mothers help mothers
Alas, this does not always happen, therefore, during the birth of a large baby, both he and his mother suffer, for example, due to too early or late outflow amniotic fluid or through the fault of a weak uterus, since the muscles of this organ are overstretched large fruit when moving through the birth canal. We do not want to scare women, but when a large child is born, doctors are forced to use an emergency caesarean section, and if the birth is active, then resort to episiotomy (dissection of the perineum) to prevent possible ruptures. In the postpartum period, bleeding and involution of the uterus (slow decrease in its size), hypogalactia (insufficient milk production) and anemia (lack of hemoglobin in the blood) may occur.
Fifth myth. The baby's weight cannot be controlled before birth.
Are there reliable patterns in newborn weight changes?
Macrosomia literally means " big body» and is medical term for a big child. A baby is considered macrosomic if it is 4 kg or more. Other experts define macrosomia as a child weighing 5 kg or more. The average size full child is 4 kg. Remember that an average is just an average. Some children will be smaller and others will be much larger. This is how we calculate the average by working out the average figure. Thus, there is a wide range normal values.
Yes, a child in the womb cannot be put on a diet. But the expectant mother, especially related 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! Need to ensure correct balanced diet. Everything is very simple: the 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 in case of obesity, this figure should not exceed 1200 kcal. And do not be lazy to combine your diet with daily walks and physical exercises, 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 a tasty and healthy life?
With the birth of a baby, obstetricians first fix 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 examination of the child, his weighing and measurement of growth. It is these data that the newly-made father will ask after establishing the sex 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 have not gained 3 kg and vice versa - large children 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 reproachfully talk about her if the weight of her baby is too small.
If we define a large baby as ≥5 kg, about 8% of Australian babies are considered macrosomic or large. While having a large baby may increase the risk of certain birth complications, a large baby does not automatically equal birth. high risk. We hear about height scans, percentages and weights before the baby is even born, which leads to the idea that the size of the baby is extremely important. While a child's size can affect performance, there are many myths surrounding just how much it affects them.
As a rule, doctors, speaking of a newborn from 4 kg, call him a large baby and, accordingly, they call a child with less weight a small baby. However, no doctor 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 the birth of a macrosomia fetus. Although we have ways of estimating 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 foundation height is a good way to keep track of overall growth. This tells us that the pregnancy is progressing. Although it plays its part 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 health problems for the mother or her child. Before you get scared and put yourself and your baby false diagnoses, I recommend taking into account the weight category of the mother. For example, a child born weighing 2.5 kg, in the same small and fragile woman, the small weight of a newborn child will be the norm and will not cause doctors any suspicion of a problem. The same applies to large women.
The Leopold maneuver, a special way to feel or feel the baby, may be of some help in estimating the size of the baby. Feeling the baby, finding out the position of the baby and the height of the base can act as one piece of the puzzle of guessing the size of the baby.
Ultrasounds offer a look inside the uterus, a way to check the baby before it's born. It's a great diagnostic tool, but it still has limitations. Early in the first trimester, ultrasound offers fairly accurate size estimates because early development baby is pretty standard. But as pregnancy progresses and genetics advances, the accuracy of measuring an infant is less.
Newborn weight parameters.
- From 2 to 3 kg - a low indicator of weight.
- From 3 to 4 kg - the average weight.
- From 4 or more - high rate weight.
Weighty baby.
According to statistics, a lot of large children are currently being born, which most often indicates the pathologies of the mother. During pregnancy, women learn about the estimated weight category of the fetus at 20-22 weeks after the ultrasound. If the weight of her child seems too high in relation to the features of the mother's body ( narrow pelvis), she will be recommended special diet for weight loss. If, before the estimated date of birth, the weight of the crumbs 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 method of measuring an infant gives a score. When all of these are used together, they can give an educated guess. However, there is a measurable error rate, so we must remember that this is really only an estimate. While certain risk factors - for example - can increase the chance of having a big baby, it doesn't guarantee it.
With different vendors using various definitions macrosomia, it is a good idea to ask your provider what weight they use to identify a large baby. If we use 5 kg as a weight, then only 7% of babies born are considered large.
The main rule for caring for a strong man is to maintain healthy lifestyle life, a balanced diet that excludes a high level of milk consumption, daily walks on fresh air and starting complementary foods with fruit mixtures. And when calculating nutrition, the mother should focus not on the actual weight of the child, but on the average weight data for children of his age.
In general, women have a chance of 1 in 10 children weighing more than 4 kg. If you have gestational diabetes, then there is a 7% chance of having a baby over 4 kg and a 6% chance of having a baby over 5 kg. Thus, although the risk increases, it is still far from guaranteed. Women who treat their gestational diabetes can even reduce their risk of having a large baby by 50%.
How is diabetes in pregnant women associated with high birth weight?
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 sugar. If a mother is borderline, doesn't watch her sugars, and doesn't follow a diabetic friendly diet, she runs the risk of having a large baby. Some studies even point to a 20% increased risk of having a large baby. For this reason, regular physical exercises and healthy diet for the whole body are ideal for all expectant mothers.
Causes of weight anomalies
| The birth of a hero | The birth of a baby |
| Diabetes mellitus in the mother of the child. | chronic diseases woman's heart, serious illnesses kidneys, lungs. |
| Rh-conflict of mother and child | Multiple pregnancy. |
| Postponed pregnancy. | Defects of the uterus and placenta are usually congenital. |
| Unbalanced nutrition of a woman during pregnancy, overeating is not excluded. | Alcohol and smoking abuse during pregnancy. |
| hereditary traits. | Excessive consumption drinks with high content caffeine. |
| Second and subsequent births. | Poor nutrition, ecology, sexual infections. |
Within a few days of a newborn's life, physiological weight loss occurs, and in large children it proceeds a little faster than in others. This allows the child to quickly adapt and balance his weight. If this does not happen, doctors will monitor the weight of the newborn until it drops 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 larger than 4 kg and a 1% chance of having a baby larger than 5 kg. However, this is a risk factor, not a guarantee. All expectant moms should do their best to eat a whole diet for food and maintain healthy levels activities that are considered safe by their providers medical services. Pregnancy is not the time to try dieting or trying 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 a child's average weight is that it's just what the average is. Many large babies are born without any complications. Some high-risk births include children younger age. Many women worry about cephalopod imbalances when the baby's head is too big to fit through the mother's pelvis. Big child not equal to a big head or too big to fit through mom's pelvis.
