Abstract

Background: Examining fetal growth regularly is a regular component of antenatal care. Several equations have been formulated by investigators for calculating fetal weight in the late second and the third trimesters. Birth weight serves as a parameter of intrauterine growth of the fetus, and its determinants are extensively studied. However, little is known about determinants of differing patterns of growth in utero.
Objective: To study any significant difference in ultrasonographic birth weight and neonatal birth weight in primipara and multipara.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Dhirenpara maternity and child welfare hospital [first referral unit (FRU)], Guwahati, Assam, India, from December 1, 2014, to December 30, 2014. Ultrasonography (USG) was performed for the patients of term pregnancy (after 37 weeks). But, the patients who delivered within 10 days of the USG and those who delivered spontaneously were only included in this study. Result: In this study, we found that the neonatal birth weight increases with increase in ultrasonographic birth weight in both primipara and multipara (t = - 0.653. and t = - 0.615, respectively). Therefore, the P value of the correlation showed no significance, which proves the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between ultrasonographic birth weight and neonatal birth weight. Conclusion: The study shows that neonatal birth weight can be predicted by USG without any significant error. Prediction of birth weight helps in taking vital decisions during delivery in an FRU as there is a shortage of required infrastructure compared with a tertiary health-care unit.