Contents:
- Medical Video: Keeping Babies Healthy
- How much weight is a normal baby?
- What is the risk of a baby who weighs less than or more than normal?
- LBW babies
- Big baby
- What affects the baby's birth weight?
Medical Video: Keeping Babies Healthy
When the baby is born, the thing that is usually asked first is "how much is it?". If the weight is in the normal range, surely the mother and family will be happy. The newborn's weight can be a benchmark for the health of the baby later.
Yes, many studies have proven that low birth weight babies are at risk of developing various diseases later on. In fact, low weight causes 60-80% of the world's newborn deaths, according to WHO data.
How much weight is a normal baby?
Birth weight (BBL) is your baby's first weight measured after the baby is born. Birth weight is said to be normal, it can be in the range 2500-4000 grams, in babies born quite old (gestational age 37-40 weeks).
In contrast to premature babies, where the baby is born at a gestational age of less than 37 weeks, which usually has a birth weight of less than 2500 grams. So that premature babies are more at risk of having low birth weight (LBW). Babies born around the date they are supposed to be born tend to have a greater weight than babies born earlier.
What is the risk of a baby who weighs less than or more than normal?
The baby's weight is said to be low if it is less than 2500 grams (LBW), and it is said that the weight of a large baby is more than 4000 grams (large baby).
LBW babies
Newborns who have low body weight can increase the risk of future health problems in their lives. A low-weight baby can experience nutritional problems and development early in life, and if he cannot correct his problem in the early years of his life, it can increase the risk of health problems, such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease , because the food intake he consumes is not in accordance with his body's needs.
So, health problems in infants with low birth weight may be avoided by improving nutrition at the beginning of their lives, so that babies can catch up. In addition, the problems faced by infants with low birth weight also depend on what causes them to become LBW, during the pregnancy stage where the baby experiences limitations to grow in the womb, and how severe the LBW level is. The smaller the baby's birth weight and the faster the baby is born, the greater the risk of the baby experiencing health problems.
Big baby
Large babies can be caused by the size of parents who are also large (genetic) and increased maternal weight during excessive pregnancy. In addition, it can also be caused because the mother has diabetes during pregnancy. Diabetes during pregnancy, also known as gestational diabetes, causes maternal blood glucose to flow to the baby to increase, so the baby's body produces more insulin. Excess blood sugar and insulin production can cause babies to grow bigger and more baby fat reserves, so that the weight of a baby can reach more than 4000 grams.
This large baby can make it difficult for the mother during childbirth, and she may have to take a caesarean section for her birth. In addition, large babies caused by gestational diabetes can cause babies to experience problems with regulating glucose in their bodies, for example babies can experience hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) after the baby is born. Large babies can also experience difficulty breathing, jaundice, and increase the risk of birth defects.
What affects the baby's birth weight?
There are many factors that can affect a baby's birth weight, namely:
- Parent's body size. The large and tall body size of a parent can have a baby with a larger size than the average baby, while a short and small parent may have a baby who is also smaller than an average baby.
- Twins. Twins or more babies are usually born with a smaller size than other babies. This happens because they have to share space to grow in the womb, but also usually twins prematurely born.
- Maternal health during pregnancy. Pregnant women with high blood pressure or heart problems, or mothers who smoke, drink alcohol, and drugs during pregnancy tend to give birth to babies with low weight. While pregnant women who suffer from diabetes or obesity during pregnancy tend to give birth to babies with greater weight. Therefore, you should check your health condition regularly during pregnancy.
- Nutrition during pregnancy. Of course you already know that good nutrition during pregnancy is very influential on the growth and development of babies during the womb. Poor nutrition during pregnancy can affect the baby's birth weight and subsequent baby growth. Whereas, if the mother experiences too much weight gain during pregnancy, the risk of the baby is born with a weight greater than the normal weight of the baby.
- Baby health. Health problems that babies have, such as birth defects or infectious diseases during pregnancy, can also affect the birth weight and future growth of the baby.
Other factors that can affect a baby's birth weight are gender. Usually babies with male sex tend to have a greater weight than babies of female sex, but this difference may be very little. In addition, what might affect is also the birth order, the first baby usually has a smaller weight than the next baby.
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