Can iugr improve

Or the blood flow through the umbilical cord may be limited. Factors in both the mother and the baby may cause FGR. But a baby with FGR may have certain signs after birth, such as:. One of the main reasons for regular prenatal exams is to make sure your baby is growing well. During pregnancy, the size of your baby is estimated in different ways, including:. Fundal height. To check fundal height, your healthcare provider measures from the top of your pubic bone to the top of your uterus fundus.

Fundal height, measured in centimeters cm , is about the same as the number of weeks of pregnancy after the 20th week. For example, at 24 weeks gestation, your fundal height should be close to 24 cm. If the fundal height is less than expected, it may mean FGR. Fetal ultrasound. Estimating fetal weight with ultrasound is the best way to find FGR. Ultrasound uses sound waves to create images of the baby in the womb. They might do this if the baby seems to have stopped growing, or if there's a problem with the placenta or the blood flow in the umbilical cord.

A woman might have a cesarean section C-section if the stress of a vaginal delivery is considered too risky for the baby. Babies with IUGR are more at risk for some kinds of health problems. Those born early or who are very small at birth are more likely to need to stay in the hospital for a longer time.

They also might need special care in the neonatal intensive care unit the NICU. If your baby might have IUGR, follow your doctor's advice and go to all prenatal visits and testing appointments. This helps your doctor see how your baby is developing and growing.

Reviewed by: Larissa Hirsch, MD. For regularly updated information on a variety of health topics, please visit familydoctor. See related article on intrauterine growth restriction. The baby is not growing inside the uterus at the normal rate. These babies usually have a low weight at birth. IUGR has various causes. The most common cause is a problem in the placenta the tissue that carries food and blood to the baby. Birth defects and genetic disorders can cause IUGR. If the mother has an infection, high blood pressure, is smoking, or drinking too much alcohol or abusing drugs, her baby might have IUGR.

Sometimes a prescribed medicine that the mother is taking causes IUGR. Most of the causes of IUGR are beyond your control. Usually, nothing the mother did causes IUGR in her baby.

But if you smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol or abuse drugs, you can cause IUGR in your baby. About one third of the babies who are small at birth have IUGR. The rest of them don't have IUGR—they're just smaller than normal.

Just like there are different sizes of infants, children and adults, there are also different sizes of babies in the uterus. Small babies tend to run in families. The parents or other children in the family may have been small when they were born, too. During your pregnancy, your doctor will do tests to find out if your baby is growing normally.

The main test for checking a baby's growth in the uterus is an ultrasound. The ultrasound exam lets your doctor see your baby in your uterus with an instrument that is moved across your abdomen belly. When the ultrasound exam is done, your doctor will measure the size of your baby's head, abdomen and legs. These measurements will tell you and your doctor if your baby is growing normally. Your doctor will also find out the amount of amniotic fluid in your uterus.

In some babies with growth restriction, the amount of amniotic fluid is low. If your baby is small, ultrasound exams may be done more often than usual to check your baby's health. One test is fetal monitoring. It's a way to check your baby's health inside your womb. The best way to help your baby is to keep all your prenatal visits with your doctor. You should also monitor how often your baby moves and kicks. A baby who moves around often is usually healthy.

Another way to help your baby is to take good care of your body. Eat healthy foods and make sure you eat the recommended number of calories for a pregnant woman. Try to get 8 hours of sleep or more each night. An hour or 2 of rest in the afternoon is also good for you. Rest will not only help you feel better, it may even help your baby grow. If your baby has FGR, you may give birth early.

The time of delivery depends on how well your baby is doing. Sometimes, babies with FGR appear to be small but healthy. If testing suggests that the pregnancy is not developing well, your doctor may decide that an early delivery could help. In this case, your doctor may want to induce labor. If there are no signs of problems with your baby during labor, a vaginal delivery is okay. If your baby has problems during labor, a cesarean section also called a C-section may be safer. A baby born with FGR usually needs to stay in the hospital longer after birth.

This is especially true for babies born early. They need to breathe and feed normally, as well as gain weight, before they can go home. Babies born with FGR often catch up in size and have a normal height and weight by about 2 years of age, and should be fed normally without attempting to catch up quicker. This article was contributed by: familydoctor. This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone.

Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.