Baby weight...

[artisanroast]

Hi,

Not technically childbirth but...

Is baby birth weight hereditary? My mum weighed 8lb 71/2oz, I was 8lb 7oz, my brother was 8lb 2oz. My mum's sister who is a but neater built than my mum had a boy at 7lb 10oz.

Should I expect a baby at a similar sort of weight? I am smaller boned than my mum so I am hoping maybe about 7lb 6oz - 8lb.

No idea if this is totally illogical or not.

What has everyone else's experiences been?

Thanks

xx

[Roseybee10]

Not for me.

I was 9lbs15oz.

Dd1 born at same term as me was 8lbs 2oz (40+4)

Dd2 born at 39+6 and weighed 6lbs 14oz.

Dd2 was easier to deliver because I was in the water and she was in a good position whereas I had dd1 lying down and she was back to back and came out with her elbow around her neck. Tbh I don't think the weight had much bearing on delivery for me.

X

[123Jump]

Well, I would think that the Dad would have some input,.
I thought it was more to do with heights? I'm tall,was 9 12. DH is very tall,and our DC have ranged from 9 7 to 10 12.
They are tall too.
Judging by thread on here bigger babies seem to be easier to deliver.

[golemmings]

I was 5lb4 at 40+4. Dd 8lb14 (40+5) ds 9lb5 (40+14).

Sorry.

[afreshstartplease]

I was 8lb6, I am short and a size 8

Dc1 7lb 9
Dc2 8lb 1
Dc3 8lb 6

[TheyreMadITellYouMaaaad]

Birth weights in the western world have tended to increase over the last century - basically since health care has improved.

50y ago the average birth weight was something like 6lb, 10y ago it was something like 7lb6.

Birthweight relates more to maternal health and well-being than to genetics, I think.

[Roseybee10]

I'm short and a size 8/10 and I was nearly 10lbs lol.
Hubby is 6ft3 but was premature so he was 5lbs 6oz at 36 weeks.

[RolyPolierThanThou]

It might he genetic but you've got two sets of genes in there. I was 7lbs 6 at birth. Dh was 10lbs.

Ds1 10lbs 5 (NOT easier to deliver. omfg)
Ds2 8lbs 8 (piece of cake after his brother)

Take a look at the weight estimate on your 20 week scan print out. Ds1 was measuring quite large even there ( but still was born higher in the centiles than the estimate implied)

[AnythingNotEverything]

Don't be afraid of baby's size. Most if the pain is caused by the head, and heads are a similar size regardless of weight. Bigger babies tend to be fatter or longer. Positioning is much more important in terms of a straightforward birth.

I have 2 DC to 2 dads. Regardless of the father's birth weights both babies were similar to my birthweight. My 3rd is shaping up to follow my genes rather than his/her dad's.

[Christelle2207]

Well most babies in this family have been 6/7lbs. Until my DS2 who was a terrifying 9lb12!! (Much easier birth than my 7lb DS1 tho).

[Lookatmyredtrousers]

I was 5lb 4 (prem) and DH was 10lb. DD was 7lb 6, right in the middle

[littleostrich]

I was 8lb 11oz and DS was only 5lb 14oz... but I was born two weeks overdue, while DS was six weeks early - so I suppose you can't directly compare those weights. He would have been a big baby if I'd gone full term!

[tumbletumble]

I was around 7lb so I was expecting a small ish baby. All 3 of my DC were between 8lb 10oz and 8lb 13oz, just like my DH.

[StetsonsAreCool]

I was 7lb 10, DH was 5lb 13

I'm on the short side of average height, he's on the tall side of average

Both DC were bob on 9lb.

MW told me I have "efficient" placentas. I just grow big babies apparently!

[lunalovegood84]

I was 8 lbs. DH was 9 lbs 4 oz. DS was a gargantuan 11 lbs 9 oz.

[artisanroast]

I think all I see is there is no rhyme nor reason to my baby's birth weight.

Fingers crossed she is a similar weight to me. DH was 10lb!

[PickledinGin]

I was approx 6lb at birth. I'm quite short but my 3 ranged from 10lb 3 - 9lb 4. Thankfully they were all delivered via the sunroof .

[Millie2013]

I was 7lb11 and considered big (compared to other babies in our family). Mum was/is average build

I'm petite, was told to expect a 6lb ish baby (from a growth scan). DD was 8lb14

[PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom]

It's also worth bearing in mind that weight makes very little difference to ease of delivery in the scheme of things.

The biggest impact is positioning. After that probably head circumference. As well as simple luck of the draw.

[avocadotoast]

What Anything said. DD was 7lb but her head was off-centre so she was incredibly hard to get out. And she had a poor squished head when she finally emerged (though it pinged back pretty quickly!)

I was 6lb 8 and I think DH was nearly 8lb. So I guess DD did fall somewhere in the middle. But I did also hear that babies have been getting bigger over the past few decades!

[ChickenLaVidaLoca]

Genetics play a part, of both parents, but there are also various other factors. Agree with pp that positioning is very important too. I'd rather huff out a nicely sited ten pounder than get back to back, 6lb 14oz DD1 out again. Obviously there does come a point when they're just too big, but realistically position is likely to be as important as size in determining the type of labour you have.

[Serafinaaa]

My mum, my sister and I were all the same weights at our first midwife appointments (60kg). Our first babies weighed 8.3, 8.1, 8.2.

[Number3cometome]

My Mum was 10lb at birth,

She had me: 8lb
Brother (4 weeks early) 6lb
Brother: 9lb 7oz

I had:
DS 9lb (due date)
DD 8lb 2oz (38 weeks exactly)
Currently expecting DS2 and he is on target to be 7lb, but has a different father.

[IShallCallYouSquishy]

I was 6lb 10
DD was 6lb 13
DS was 6lb 11

DH was 6lb something as well so for is it definitely was hereditary

[Strokethefurrywall]

Maternal birth weight held true for us, myself and my two siblings were 6lb 6, 6lb 4 and 6lb respectively (mum 5lbs), and despite my sister and I both being tall (5ft 10" and 5 ft 8") we've both had small babies. Dniece was 5lb 14oz, ds1 was 6lb 5oz and ds2 was 6lb 1 - my DH was 6lb 5oz too so we just don't grow them big despite being tall people!

[PomeralLights]

I tried to read up on this when I was pregnant! The research I found suggested the primary factor was maternal health, then maternal genetics.
The birth weight of the dad usually has little impact. Makes sense from an evolution point of view - if a big guy mates with a small woman it makes no sense for her to end up attempting to gestate and deliver a large baby. Evolution would have killed off those people whose babies were all democratic about it a long time ago in favour of the babies that give the mother an easier birth and therefore a chance at more babies.