Antenatal Prediction of ‘Small-for-Dates' Babies. What Proportion are Growth Retarded?

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Abstract
Summary The number of low birth weight neonates (< 10th centile) that had objective neonatal evidence of intra-uterine malnutrition was studied prospectively. A fetal ‘weight for gestational age' centile chart nomogram was constructed retrospectively for the local population in an area of East Anglia. When the Norfolk and Norwich birth weight centiles (10th, 50th, 90th) for each week of pregnancy (29–40 weeks) were compared with national reference centile charts the local neonates were smaller by 0–250g (P< 0·01). Of 418 singleton deliveries at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in June 1989, 42 had birth weights below the 10th centile for that population. On paediatric assessment only 17 (40 per cent) of these had morphological features of intra-uterine growth retardation. These babies were associated with more operative deliveries and special care baby unit admissions (P < 0·001) than the rest of the 'small for dates' babies. The overall incidence of intra-uterine growth retardation for this population, as assessed by rational paediatric criteria, was 4·1 per cent.

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