Low Birth Weight In Babies

Do you know what the reasons are that lead to premature birth of baby? Remember, this can cause Low Birth Weight, leading to several health complications in the future. This article is dedicated to all the mothers and fathers who want to minimize the chances of premature delivery and help your child lead a healthy life.

The average weight of a healthy baby during birth is 3 KG. Usually premature babies are found to have low birth weight. But sometimes babies who are born after the completion of 37 weeks also tend to have low birth weight.

Reasons for Low Birth Weight:

In Premature Babies:

1. Premature babies don’t have enough time to grow. Hence weigh low during their birth.
2. Twins do not have much room to grow completely in the womb. Thus, increase the chances of delivery before the due date.
3. Problems with Cervix and uterus increase the chances of premature labor and there by lead to low birth weight baby.

Mothers of most of the premature babies feel extremely guilty thinking they have somewhere gone wrong in taking care of themselves during pregnancy. However, in few cases, despite being extremely careful, there is nothing you can do to prevent premature birth of your baby.

In Non-Premature Babies:

1. If both the parents are short, then the chances of baby weighing less is high. Please disclose this to your doctor if your extended family had premature babies.
2. Smoking and consumption of alcohol is very dangerous and such women usually give birth to baby weighing less than 2.5 KG.
3. Woman with diabetes, improper kidney functioning, heart ailments will have several problems during delivery and Low Birth Weight of baby is one of them.
4. Placenta is the lifeline which transfers nutrients from mother to baby. Therefore Placenta related problems lead to low birth weight of baby.
5. If mother is either a teenager or above 35 years of age, the chances of delivering unhealthy baby is high.
6. Make sure there is proper spacing between two consecutive deliveries and try not to have more than three/ four children. These two reasons decrease the capacity of woman to hold baby, leading to either premature baby or unhealthy baby.

Pregnant woman need to be healthier physically but what is more important is mental health. Woman with lack of support from friends and family tend to have several complications and one of them is Low Birth Weight.

Help Your Child:

1. If you have given birth to premature baby, incubator can help your baby get all the nutrients artificially.
2. Proper breastfeeding can help your child minimize health complications in the future.
3. As your baby grows, keep an eye on her/his weight and make sure you have regular consultations with your doctor.
4. The best way is to feed your child with nutritious food.

For your baby to have a healthy life, it is important that you remain healthy physically and mentally during pregnancy and breast feeding.

 

Related Articles

Tips to reduce backache after delivery
Simple ways to lighten stretch marks
Thumb sucking problem
Is your child spoilt and pampered too much?
5 educational activities from kids