Relation between weight at birth, maternal height, gestational age and feeding restrictions in normal pregnant women

Abstract

The influence of maternal height, gestacional age and feeding restrictions in normal pregnant women on the weight at birth of offspring was studied. The results showed that the weight at birth rises along with maternal height and gestational age. Feeding restrictions caused a decrease of 251 grammes in the average newborn weight and was responsible for a third of all births of underweight children. The authors consider that, in women less than 1.50 m tall, pregnancies of 38 and 39 weeks may increase fetal risk. The prescription of restrictive diets to normal pregnant women should not be founded solely on rigid weight-gaining schemes due to damage that may be caused to the newborns' weight.