Growth velocity of some fetal parameters. II. Body weight, body length and head circumference.
In this study, fetal growth velocities of the body weight, crown-heel length, crown-rump length and head circumference were established from 478 normal fetuses and neonates, aged 8-41 gestational weeks. The growth rates were computed by time intervals, and the velocity curves were plotted with their 95% confidence intervals. The body weight displayed an accelerating pattern of growth until 34-35 weeks and a breakdown of the growth rate afterwards, as we already observed for the brain weight in another study published in Biology of the Neonate. Decreasing patterns of growth velocity throughout pregnancy were observed for the crown-heel and the crown-rump lengths, with a marked fall at 35 weeks. The growth velocity curve of the head circumference is also decreasing, but in a more irregular way. A curious revival of growth velocity was observed in most parameters at about 38 weeks. These changes in the growth rhythm were similar to those found previously with ultrasound data.
Guihard-Costa
A M
AM
CNRS URA 49, Collège de France et Laboratoire d'Anthropologie, Musée de l'Homme, Paris.
Larroche
J C
JC
D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D002508:Cephalometry; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn