Average Baby Weight

Pregnancy is always an exciting time for any expectant mother, especially if it is the first pregnancy. However, once the baby is born, there are many factors that are taken into consideration to know if the baby is normal. One of the key indicators of a normal delivery and a normal baby is the average baby weight. The weight of a baby acts as a good indicator towards the overall health of the baby. Given below are details regarding the average weight of a baby, factors affecting it and what it indicates.

What is the Average Weight of a Baby?
There is still some dispute regarding the ideal average baby weight at birth. However, it is widely regarded that a baby that weighs anywhere between 5.5 - 9.5 lbs is said to be a healthy baby. The corresponding height of the baby should be around 18 - 22 inches. This is only a range and slight deviation from this range is also considered to be close to normal.

Factors Affecting the Average Baby Weight
There are many factors affecting the weight of a baby when it is born. These are:

• Premature births and pre-term babies are often born underweight.
• If there was any kind of complication during the course of pregnancy or during childbirth, then there are chances that the baby may be born underweight.
• In cases of multiple births, the babies born may be relatively small. This is because multiples not only share the same uterus, but are also often born early, which leads to smaller size and correspondingly lesser weight at birth.
• It is often seen than tall parents have larger and heavier than average newborns, compared to small or short parents.
• Girls are normally smaller than boys, and thus, are often lighter in weight than boys.
• Proper nutrition during pregnancy is very important because a poor diet adversely affects the health of a baby, leading to an underweight baby.
• Any kind of medical problems in the fetus and the baby, like birth defects or infections acquired during pregnancy can also adversely affect the health and thus, the weight of the baby.
• If the mother has any unhealthy habits, like smoking or drinking, it often leads to low birth weight of babies.
• Other factors that may influence the weight of a newborn baby include genetic factors or environmental factors etc.

Deviations From Average Baby Weight
Babies that are born weighing above 7 pounds are considered to be healthy babies. Sometimes, the baby may even weigh up to 9 pounds! However, a baby that is born weighing over 8 pounds may have other problems to deal with, like the delivery may be difficult. This is especially seen in babies born to mothers that develop gestational diabetes. In such cases, it may be difficult to keep the blood sugar of the baby at the required levels.

Babies that weigh less than around 5 pounds and 8 ounces, are often classified as being low birth weight babies. Babies born weighing less than 3 pounds and 5 ounces are said to very low birth weight babies. Such instances are commonly associated with cases where the pregnancy is not full term, or when the baby is born with a defect. Such babies are often admitted into the intensive care unit and are continuously monitored for growth and feeding.

Thus, this was all about the average weight of a baby at birth. It is important to take the measurement of the average baby weight at birth seriously, because it may be a vital indicator of a possible underlying health problem.