A large fetus should be considered a child weighing more than 4 kg and a length of more than 54 cm. The reasons for the birth of a large fetus may be:
- heredity - large children are born to large parents;
- high weight of the fetus during pregnancy, as one of the serious complications of diabetes and other diseases of the mother's endocrine system;
- another possible cause of a large fetus is pregnancy retention ;
- "Puffy" baby is a common consequence of the mother's excess nutrition during pregnancy, especially when obesity is present.
But there is one more rule - if the mother is healthy, but a child is born more than 4 kg, then this is a risk factor or the possibility of concealed diabetes mellitus. It should be clarified in the anamnesis whether there is diabetes mellitus in one of the relatives, and the mother and child in the future better to limit the consumption of sugar and carbohydrates because of the risk of developing diabetes.
Signs of a large fetus
First of all, you can recognize a large fetus before birth by ultrasound. Since the weight of the fetus grows most in the last two months of pregnancy, then just at this time with a large fruit the main dimensions of the fetus start to exceed the sizes corresponding to the period of pregnancy and sometimes for 1 to 2 weeks.
With a full-term fetus at 40 weeks, the main dimensions usually do not exceed:
- BDP (biparietal size of the skull) is more than 93.9 mm;
- LTE (frontal parietal size of the skull) is more than 120 mm;
- DB (thigh length) 75.8 mm;
- CDG (mean diameter of the chest) is more than 99.9 mm;
- The average diameter of the abdomen is more than 108.2 mm.
If the fetus exceeds these dimensions, then you should expect the birth of a large fetus.
It is also possible to assume the birth of a large fetus according to the size of the abdomen (abdominal circumference and the height of the standing of the uterus bottom), but without ultrasound, there is a risk of mistaking polyhydramnios and large fetuses. In case of polyhydramnios, the fetal size may correspond to the gestation period or be less in relation to this period, but polyhydramnios significantly increase the size of the abdomen.