Abstract

Small babies in the womb with poor growth are normally considered those whose weight falls in the bottom 10%. The majority of these pregnancies go on to deliver a healthy baby that is simply small for its gestational age. However, some develop serious health complications including a risk of death. The challenge is to distinguish small at-risk babies and those that are not at risk. Between 2010 and 2012 the PORTO study involved over 1,100 pregnant women at seven maternity hospitals in Ireland. In each case the baby was under the 10th centile for size and defined as small. This paper describes a group of infants (17% of the total) within the study who were initially diagnosed as small, but whose growth improved on subsequent scans, and who were within normal weight ranges when they were born. Their mothers were more likely to be healthy and have no other pregnancy complications such as high blood pressure, and the babies had very few other abnormal findings on their ultrasound scans. How babies grow-and outgrowing their diagnosis of poor growth in particular-can be used to predict a better outcome at birth, and in these pregnancies the amount of scans can be reduced.