INFANTS OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT

Abstract

MANY infants who are small at birth have simply not remained in the uterus long enough to achieve expected size. In such cases it is assumed that maternofetal relations have been normal until the occurrence of an event or the development of an (acute) state resulting in the early delivery of an infant whose overall size, body composition and functional development are fairly representative of coeval fetuses whose gestations are undisturbed. By contrast, some neonates are smaller than expected for gestational age because normal antenatal growth has been retarded as the result of a pathologic process primarily involving the fetus, . . .