All people are different: skin color, hair length, height, physique. And this is normal. However, things are different with babies. Even before the birth of a child, there are certain developmental norms, and a deviation from them is a signal that something is wrong with the baby. The decisive indicator is the weight of the child, because a lightweight fetus is a problem that can sometimes affect life.
Low weight
We already know that the lack of weight of a child is a problem, but what it is is not yet fully understood. From the name itself it is clear that the main problem here is the underweight of the child. When childbirth begins in a timely manner, and the baby weighs no more than 2500 grams - a lightweight fetus. Hypotrophy is not necessarily accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in the size of the baby. Often - insufficient weight - a signal about the deviation of the fetus in the womb.
18 obstetric week of pregnancy
The baby in the womb by this time is already 12-14 centimeters in size, and its weight is about 150 grams. The body becomes more proportional, the phalanges on the arms and legs are already formed, the baby’s skeleton continues to ossify.
During this period, the body already produces immunoglobulin and interferon. From which it follows that after the 18th obstetric week of pregnancy, the baby is independently able to defend itself against infections and diseases. Which reduces the risk of miscarriage. As well as a frozen pregnancy.
The fetus already distinguishes sounds and voices, the heart muscle has almost completed its formation and the doctor leading the pregnancy can use the ultrasound examination to check the heart for the absence of diseases. The strength and tone of the muscles increase, which allows the baby to push more strongly from the walls. This is the time when mom experiences the first movements of the baby.
Organizational moments
Often, "in an interesting position," the question arises: "At what period of pregnancy are they registered." Experts say the sooner the better. There are three reasons to reinforce this belief:
- The main systems and organs begin to form precisely in the first 14 days after fertilization. Mother is strictly forbidden to drink alcohol, smoke and drink medicines. The need for vitamins is increasing, so immediately after a positive result on the test, you need to visit a gynecologist as soon as possible so that he prescribes a course of vitamins.
- Immunity during pregnancy is significantly weakened, so the risk of exacerbation of chronic diseases increases. During this period, poor health is dangerous for a developing baby.
- When registering in gynecology until the twelfth week, a woman in official work will receive a lump-sum allowance of 1/2 salary.
If the future mother is in good health and has no complaints, then you can register with the seventh - tenth week. At the slightest discomfort, and even more so pain in the lower abdomen, urgently visit an obstetrician-gynecologist. However, it should be registered no later than 12 weeks, because from this day serious and necessary examinations begin. There is no maximum period for the start of observation, but if you come before the very birth, the doctor has the right to refuse observation. In addition, it is very irresponsible, both in relation to himself and to the baby.
Deviation or feature of the body
In medicine, there is the term "constitutionally lightweight fetus." In separate families for whole generations appear babies with body weight below normal, but despite this, there are no significant deviations in further development. Small children often appear in women of small stature (up to 160 centimeters). In a similar situation, even in the early stages of pregnancy, the girl is diagnosed with possible lightness. Fortunately, a born baby with insufficient body weight for the norm, in most cases completely healthy, does not experience any difficulties on the way of growing up due to birth with a low weight.
However, sometimes the diagnosis of a lightweight fetus sometimes indicates a strong deviation of the fetus during pregnancy - fetoplacental insufficiency. This pathology is a consequence of the delay in the correct development and formation of the child. In another way, fetal malnutrition. She needs to pay special attention. Hypotrophy is divided into two types: symmetric and asymmetric. In the first form of deviation, all organs are equally reduced in relation to each other. Asymmetric hypotrophy implies a lag in the growth of all organs, with the exception of the brain and skeleton, which correspond to the term. This pathology can be prevented if you do not use alcohol, drugs, do not smoke and care about your health so as not to pick up viral infections.
The reasons for the appearance of lightweight children
Often, such a pathology as asymmetric hypotrophy appears in the third trimester with any difficulties during the period of gestation or with hereditary diseases in the future mother. Various diseases that affect changes in blood circulation lead to a slowdown of fetal growth and its proper and normal development. The hereditary / chronic diseases of the girl, during which the female body experiences intoxication and lack of oxygen, affect the baby, which increases the development of malnutrition.
The question of the mother’s nutrition during pregnancy and its influence on the development in the womb and birth of a child with a low body weight is still open. Statistically, girls who constantly adhere to low-calorie diets most often reproduce underweight babies. But do not forget the data that shows that even during the Second World War during the blockade of Leningrad, children appeared (quite often) with completely normal rates. The age of the future mother also does not occupy the last place here: girls under 18 and after 35 have a much greater chance of fetal malnutrition during the period of bearing the baby. It’s difficult for a young girl’s body, and an older mom’s body, most likely, already has chronic diseases.
Diagnosis
When diagnosing a fetus, the best option is an ultrasound scan. In the process, the doctor looks at many parameters - the state of the amniotic fluid, a malfunction of the placenta, and with dopplerometry it tracks changes in blood circulation. To clarify the diagnosis of a lightweight fetus, the doctor performs a Doppler study of the umbilical cord and vessels of the baby, and also monitors the speed of blood flow.
The doctor also conducts a cardiotocographic study, which shows the nature of the heart contractions in the child, what is the reaction to their own movements or contractions of the uterus. When receiving normal data as a result of these two studies (even with the smallness of the baby), the child is healthy.
Hospital help
Provided that during the low-pregnancy pregnancy the baby develops without deviations, then there is no need to resort to treatment. However, with a possible risk, complications or any developmental disabilities, the expectant mother is prescribed therapy for her diseases, as well as the restoration of placental insufficiency. The girl is prescribed drugs that dilate blood vessels to increase the blood supply to the child. In addition, medicines are prescribed that create a small uterine hypertonicity so that the vessels are not pinched and blood flow improves. This will be home treatment or sick leave is prescribed depending on the condition of the baby in the womb.
With successful treatment, the onset of childbirth is not rushed medically. As a rule, when the time is right, the child manages to gain a normal mass. Otherwise (lack of fetal mass), labor is induced artificially. If the baby is too weak to go out through the birth canal, then a woman in labor is given a cesarean.
Recommendations during gestation
A girl who has a small child in her womb is recommended to have a dense, proper diet, which is full of proteins, enriched with vitamins and complex carbohydrates. It is necessary to completely remove the psychological factor, because with the development of the fetus during pregnancy, the girl experiences a wide variety of feelings, including stress.
And to be nervous during this period is strictly prohibited, the girl and the baby should feel peaceful and comfortable. If the psychological factor cannot be eliminated at home, then doctors insist on hospitalization. There are girls who have been in the hospital almost throughout their pregnancy, leaving home only for a couple of weeks.
Birth
The method and timing of delivery will depend on the result that was achieved during treatment. With improvement and independent weight gain of the fetus in the hospital, you should not rush, the baby is likely to gain the necessary weight by the day of birth. But, therapy will not stop until its appearance. If the fetus does not gain mass before 36 weeks, a cesarean section is performed. What method does not give birth to the woman in childbirth, but the observing doctor, after diagnosing the baby’s condition, the weight here does not greatly affect: if the child is weak, it’s cesarean, and if the child is mobile and supposedly healthy, it’s a natural birth.
In the second option, the girl is given spinal anesthesia. A newborn is placed in a heated cradle, and mother and baby are allowed to go home only when the child's weight reaches at least 2,800 grams. Next will be given the rate of weight of the fetus by week.
conclusions
A child is always a big responsibility. For 9 months, the expectant mother takes care of and carries her baby, and then takes care of him and brings up, but before that it is still necessary to give birth. A large child or a small process of childbirth is inevitable and has its own subtleties that the girl has to endure steadily. During pregnancy, it is necessary to adhere to the recommendations of the leading doctor, and in no case do self-medication. It is important to note that the abdomen at 4 months of pregnancy, or rather its size, is certainly not an indicator of the diagnosis being studied, it can only be determined by the doctor and a further treatment plan and action plan can be prescribed.