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Complications at Labor with Big Baby
Babies who weigh more than 9 pounds and 15 ounces are considered larger than average as average newborns typically weigh 7 pounds and 8 ounces. It’s quite difficult for an ultrasound technician to check the exact size of a baby while she/he is still in the womb – only post-birth can confirm whether a baby is truly macrosomic (means “of large body”). If you are measuring large for date, your doctor may suspect macrosomia.
What Can Cause a Baby to Be Large?
A number of factors can contribute to creating a large baby, but the most influential factors are genetics or high blood sugar not properly managed from gestational diabetes or diabetes mellitus. Factors that increase the risk include: obesity, gaining a lot of weight, going past your due date and even the sex of the baby. Typically male babies weigh more than females. If you have already had a large baby, you stand a good chance to having larger babies in future pregnancies.
“Big parents” will often have bigger babies, but babies can be larger due to the mother being obese or leaving her gestational diabetes untreated. Even if you don’t fit any of these risk factors, there are big babies born to women that have none of these risks.
The Baby’s Delivery
There is a great chance that the delivery will be more difficult due to increased chances of perineal tearing, damage to your tailbone, or blood loss. The baby may have a small chance of having his/her shoulder caught behind your pubic bone, in which case he/she would get stuck. Your doctor will have to do some fancy maneuvering with your help to get your baby out and you may need to get an episiotomy. This situation is rare.
A large baby will also increase your chances of needing a cesarean and are performed only for when you are measuring large.
There is another possibility that your doctor may induce you early.
Related Information on Gestational Diabetes:
Tags: baby delivery, labor complications, large baby, macrosomia
