A woman of 40 -year -old British nationality recently gave birth in Denia (Alicante) to the biggest baby born by natural birth in Spain since records are recorded.The girl weighed 6.2 kilos.Beyond the anecdote, gynecologists warn of the dangers of fetal macrosomia, which is what babies are called more than 4 or 4.5 kilos in the maternal belly, both for children and for mothers.
The main cause produced by this excessive growth of the fetus is a diabetes of the uncontrolled mother during pregnancy, as explained by Dr. Claudio Álvarez, medical director of the Assisted Reproduction Unit of the Gutenberg Center of Malaga.
The newspaper South of Malaga has, that the so -called giant babies can also be the result of the obesity of the mother or the genetics itself, that is, in a family in which children have been born, it is more likely to give birthA larger baby.
The mother's age and gestational age also seem to influence, according to Álvarez: "If the birth is delayed until week 42, for example, the child can reach those pesos. Although in a wide percentage it occurs due to unknown causes,That is, in mothers without any pathology, obesity or genetic load proclive. "
"Mothers of macrosomic fetuses have a higher risk of suffering injuries during childbirth and the fetus itself also has an increased risk of injuring during childbirth and even when a caesarean section is performed, since its large size favors shoulder dystocia, fractures, especially clavicle, and even neurological injuries, "Margarita Marcelino, gynecologist at the Gynecological Center of Malaga, explained.
Once the child is born, he can also present complications, especially hypoglycemia, which can be severe.Marcelino indicates that there are studies that also relate macrosomia at birth with a greater risk of adulthood diseases.
Margarita Marcelino explains that the diagnosis of fetal macrosomia by ultrasound is not as simple as it could be assumed, because the fetal weight is often increased in recent weeks and because the ultrasound assessment of the fetal weight at the end of pregnancy has a very margin of error veryhigh.
Marcelino defends on the other hand that there are opinions faced among gynecologists about whether or not to induce childbirth early in order for the fetus not to continue increasing its weight, as well as on the convenience or not of making a caesarean section that,In the event that it is used indiscriminately, it can expose the mother to unnecessary surgical risks.
Both specialists have macrosomic deliveries.Álvarez attended a caesarean section of a 5.6 kilos of weight, while Marcelino has had this summer a natural childbirth of a 4.6 kilos child.In the latter case, the mother did not have previous diabetes or pathologies, but a relative had also had a large child before.
For Marcelino, the most appropriate measures to prevent the excessive weight of the fetus or newborn are, in the first place, to perform a rigorous control of the mother's glucose levels both with diet, physical exercise and insulin in the case thatIt is an insulin-dependent diabetes.