Naturally Healthy Lifestyles

Birthweight

 

 

The majority of babies, weigh approximately 3- 3½ kg at birth, with a small percentage weighing in at no more than 2 kilograms. These underweight infants were previously labelled 'premature infants', even though they were born at the correct time.
Nowadays, doctors prefer to refer to them as 'small-for-date' babies, drawing a distinction between those who were born too soon and those who were born at the correct time, but are underweight.

Several of the factors that may cause a baby to be born 'small-for-date', can be detected in early pregnancy, so it is vital that you follow up all your antenatal appointments, for your doctor to be able to fully assess the correct development of your unborn child. Ultra-sound scanning, for example, allows just that.

At birth, the doctor will carefully examine the baby, to check for any other problems, as generally, the smaller the baby the greater the problems. Underweight infants have dry wrinkled skin, and tend to look lank and thin, needing extra care and warmth in the days following the birth. Breathing difficulties, anaemia, jaundice and trouble with feeding are all common problems in these babies, and they may need to spend time in a special care unit. Many of these infants do however, go on to lead a normal healthy life.

Factors that may interfere with the baby's proper nourishment and weight gain during pregnancy:

  • Your diet: Too little of the correct food may result in a small baby, while too much of the wrong food, in an overly large one.
  • Your lifestyle: Alcohol, smoking and drug abuse can all stunt foetal development.
  • Your weight: Women who tend to be overweight before pregnancy and who gain excessive weight during the nine months, seem to have heavier babies, while those of a smaller frame before pregnancy, and who seldomly ate the correct foods, tend to have smaller babies.
  • Your health: Diabetes of any kind may cause the mother to give birth to a large baby, while toxaemia or placental problems will result in a baby with a lighter birthweight.
  • Baby's sex: Girls on average tend to be a little lighter and shorter than boys.
  • Order of birth: Firstborns' are often smaller than subsequent ones.
  • Multiple births: Single birth babies do tend to weigh more than those of a multiple pregnancy.