Baby Weight At Birth

[WinkyWinkola]

I was wondering, is it actually better for the baby the heavier it is at birth?

My first was 9lbs 9ozs (C-section) and I'm nearly 22 weeks with my second. I would rather she wasn't as heavy as her older brother - not that there's a lot I can do about it, I know.

I think they are supposed to be a bit healthier. Studys also say that the bigger the baby the more likely they are to get married and have successful careers later in life.

my second was a few ounces lighter than her brother....you tend to make babies in keeping with your own size and height etc....if you and DH are taller , then you might have a larger baby, than say someone who is 5 ft !

are you going for a VBAC or another c,s......heavier babies can be easier to give birth to as their bodyweight helps them out !!

and no, nothing at all you can do about it !! even if you a starved yourself, baby would take all the nourishment out of you anyway!

you get what you are given with babies !!!

but very big babies, who are big due to undiagnosed gestational diabetes, are not necessarily healthier..

your baby will be the right weight ..for him/herslef...! IFYSWIM

can't quite get the correlation between birth weight and likelihood of marriage and a career!

WinkyWinkola, i was worried about having a big 2nd baby (as 1st was large and 2nd baby was a boy).

Was advised to quit refined carbs. I cut out all wheat and sugar from 28 weeks and had a lovely normally sized baby (7lb something). So 22 weeks isn't too late to do something if you want to...they put on much of the weight in the last few weeks. Oh, felt fabulous by the way! Lean, trim, loads more energy.

1st 7lb 6oz
2nd 10lb 6oz (new partner)
3rd 9lb 2oz (2 weeks early)
4th 9lb 12oz

and I'm 5'1" so they'll be what they are meant to be! All natural deliveries and all slept loads for the 1st 6 weeks and didn't feed little and often so I think it was easier having big babies

Yes, I think it is generally better for the baby, and they will need feeding less often so give you an easier time as well. A friend of mine who is a doctor (although not an obs/gyn) told me that the longer a baby stays inside feeding off the placenta, the better for future health - apparently being premature can affect your health into adulthood.

Hm...obvioulsy it's good for a Baby to be full term, I suppose, but the actual weight and health (unless severely under or overweighed for medical reasons now) not sure if that really is all that black and white!
Anecdotally, my SIL seems to be a typical story, first child, at term, just over 5Ibs, hard and tiring Birth, 2. Baby, at term a 10 Ibs Baby and my SIL feels the Birth was so much easier and that the Baby helped more and all that....
Saying that, I know, in general the rule that your Body will produce a baby of the right size will be pretty good to follow, however, with our , often, not so healthy, high calorific etc...diet, there is a possibility, apparently, that we grow Baby's bigger then we have ever done...so, a healthy aproach to diet, is probably always advisable, even if not diabetic, etc...

I suspect the correlation (as opposed to proven link) comes from some babies- eg those born early- have low nbirth weight as part of a package of health issues containing disability that might limit marriage and career prospects?

Mine were 5 lb 5oz (AS child, still see no reason he won't marry or work)

6 lb 11.5 oz (mr NT, deluightful socially adept little love)

7 lb 4 oz (beinga ssessed for ASD or langauge disorder at the moment)

Its healthier for baies to be within a normal range- whch includes 9lb 9oz in this day and age, but aren't they monitoring the size?

'Studys also say that the bigger the baby the more likely they are to get married and have successful careers later in life'

Oh ffs....my dd is doomed then. She was 4lb 4oz!

What a load of tripe!

Yeah, Peachy, I suspect you're right. It's the same sort of statistial anomaly that means stats can be manipulated to show that being fat is good for you - because lots of skinny people smoke, or are ill, it can skew the stats.

From what I know, anyway, there are negative effects associated with having a high birth weight. It generally indicates that the mother has type II diabetes, which increases the chance that the child will have type II diabetes later in life.