Is There a Way to Make Sure You Have a Small Baby
Delight note: This information was current at the time of publication. But medical information is e'er changing, and some data given here may exist out of date. For regularly updated information on a variety of health topics, please visit familydoctor.org, the AAFP patient education website.
Information from Your Family unit Doctor
IUGR—Why Is My Babe Pocket-sized and What Can Be Washed About It?
Am Fam Physician. 1998 Oct 15;58(6):1393-1394.
Run across related commodity on intrauterine growth retardation.
What is IUGR?
IUGR stands for intrauterine growth retardation. This means that your infant is growing slowly and doesn't counterbalance as much every bit your md expected for this stage of pregnancy. If your unborn baby weighs less than most babies at this stage, your baby might have IUGR. IUGR is also used to describe a baby who weighs less at nascence than most babies at the same phase. For babies who are built-in about their due date (meaning, they aren't premature), the dangerous weight is anything less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces.
Your doctor might suspect IUGR if he or she thinks your babe is growing slightly less than would be expected. IUGR is ordinarily diagnosed during an ultrasound examination. Doctors most frequently find information technology during the 6th, the 7th or the 8th months of pregnancy.
It's of import to know that IUGR simply means slowed growing. These small babies aren't mentally slow or retarded. Most small-scale babies grow upwards to be healthy children and adults.
Why is my baby modest?
Doctors know many of the causes of IUGR but are simply able to be sure almost the cause in almost one one-half of babies who accept IUGR. The most common reasons for a baby to be modest are the following:
-
The mother smoked cigarettes during pregnancy.
-
The female parent drank alcohol during pregnancy.
-
The mother had high blood pressure level during pregnancy.
-
The female parent had infections during pregnancy.
-
The infant has chromosomal abnormalities (similar Down's syndrome).
-
The mother used sure medicines during pregnancy.
-
The mother is small (less than v feet tall or weighing less than 110 pounds).
Why is my babe's size of import?
The best predictor of a baby'southward survival and good health is its birth weight. Babies born with low nascency weight might have issues nigh the time of nativity. Because of the danger of some of these problems—such as difficulty holding a normal torso temperature or fighting infection—your doctor will do some tests to find out if your baby is growing well, both before and after birth.
What tests might be done on my baby?
2 tests tin can notice out if your baby has IUGR and continue track of your babe's growth in the womb. These tests are the ultrasound exam and the nonstress examination. The get-go kind of exam, the ultrasound exam, is used to detect out if your baby has IUGR. This test is washed every three to iv weeks to make certain your baby is still growing correct. The ultrasound exams let your physician expect at your infant'due south internal organs and mensurate the amount of fluid effectually the baby.
Special ultrasound exams are called biophysical profiles. During a biophysical contour, the person who does the exam will also watch your baby's breathing, muscle tone and movements.
The other test is the nonstress test. This test is usually done in the doctor's office, merely information technology might be done in a hospital. A nonstress test measures how fast your baby'south centre is chirapsia. A healthy babe normally has a heartbeat that gets faster every bit the babe moves around. A nonstress examination takes about 20 to 30 minutes to do. It might take longer if your infant is asleep.
Sometimes your medico wants to lookout man your baby's heartbeat while your uterus contracts (squeezes together). This is called a wrinkle stress test. There are ii ways to help you have contractions for merely a little while. Get-go, your nipples will be warmed upward. Sometimes this makes your uterus outset contracting for a little while. If that doesn't work, you could take a special medicine (either oxytocin or pitocin), to make your uterus contract just for a little while.
What happens if a test isn't normal?
If i of the tests isn't normal, your doctor may want to exercise other tests. Your doctor may also try to kickoff your labor early on (induce labor) if you might take a problem.
What volition the doc do to help my babe?
If your baby is very small when information technology's born, your doc can give it oxygen through a olfactory organ tube, fluids through a tube in a vein and, sometimes, antibiotics.
What tin can I do to assist my baby?
You lot can do five of import things to help your babe grow large plenty earlier information technology'south born:
-
If you smoke—quit now. Cigarettes hurt the placenta, which is your baby's simply way to get "food." It's never as well late to quit smoking. Babies gain one half of their weight in the final three months earlier being built-in.
-
If you potable alcohol—quit now. Even one drink a day makes it more probable that y'all will have a small-scale baby. You could even accept a baby with encephalon impairment caused by the alcohol. This can happen in all months of pregnancy.
-
If you use illegal drugs—quit now. Almost all illegal drugs make babies too small to be strong and good for you. You may need your doctor's assistance to quit so you don't have withdrawal issues.
-
Consume a adept diet. Enquire your doctor to tell you the best foods to swallow.
-
Keep all your appointments for dr. visits and tests.
To run into the full article, log in or purchase access.
This handout is provided to you by your family unit doctor and the American University of Family Physicians. Other health-related information is bachelor from the AAFP online at http://familydoctor.org.
This information provides a full general overview and may not apply to anybody. Talk to your family doctor to discover out if this information applies to yous and to go more information on this field of study.
Copyright © 1998 by the American Academy of Family unit Physicians.
This content is endemic by the AAFP. A person viewing information technology online may make ane printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing past the AAFP. Contact afpserv@aafp.org for copyright questions and/or permission requests.
Source: https://www.aafp.org/afp/1998/1015/p1393.html
0 Response to "Is There a Way to Make Sure You Have a Small Baby"
Post a Comment