Synonyms
Definition
The birth weight of a newborn is an indicator of chance for survival and long-term development and can also reflect the health status of the birth mother. Normal birth weight is classified as babies born between the 10th and 90th percentiles of all babies of the same gestational age. Low birth weight is a major problem of newborns worldwide. There are three categories of low birth weight: low birth weight (LBW) is less than 2,500 g or about 5.5 lb; very low birth weight (VLBW) is less than 1,500 g; and extremely low birth weight (ELBW) is less than 1,000 g. Low-birth-weight infants are either born small for their gestational age (SGA) or born prematurely. A preterm birth is a gestation of less than 37 weeks and is a major cause of LBW. Small for gestational age births are more common in developing countries.
High birth weight is far less common worldwide but can still have major consequences on the health of both the mother and...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References and Further Readings
Bradley, P. F., & Zimmerman, J. (2006). Pediatric critical care (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier.
Normal birthweight it critical to the future health and development. (2009). Retrieved 2 Aug 2016, from http://www.childinfo.org/low_birthweight_overview.html
Taeusch, H. W., Ballard, R. A., & Gleason, C. A. (2005). Avery’s diseases of the newborn (8th ed.). Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (2010a). Large for gestational age. Retrieved 17 Dec 2010, from http://www.chop.edu/healthinfo/large-for-gestational-age-lga.html
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (2010b). Low birth weight. Retrieved 16 Aug 2010, from http://www.chop.edu/healthinfo/low-birthweight.html
Wong, D., Hockenberry, M., Wilson, D., Perry, S., & Lowdermilk, D. (2006). Maternal child nursing care (3rd ed.). St Louis: Mosby Elsevier.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Baumann, L.C., Ylinen, A. (2016). Birth Weight. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_86-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_86-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine