Pregnancy malnutrition is difficult to diagnose

If you don't remember the first day of your last period before pregnancy, you may not know if your baby is malnourished despite this long time.

Ms. Linh (25 years old, Hanoi) gave birth to a baby weighing only 1.6 kg. Doctors say the baby is malnourished right from the womb. Previously, in the visits to antenatal care and ultrasound in the clinic near her home, she had concluded that the fetus was normal development, based on the date of pregnancy calculation she provided.

In fact, I don't remember the first day of the last period before I was pregnant, so I read to the doctor the date of the cycle 2 months away. Her menstrual cycle was irregular, so the gestational age was incorrectly calculated. And the condition of the retarded baby has not been detected early.

Ultrasound helps estimate pregnancy weight.(Photo: Healthcentersonline)

Pregnancy malnutrition usually occurs from the second half of pregnancy (about 5 months onwards). These are the weight of babies who do not reach the lowest age-appropriate average. If the baby is born full term and weighs less than 2.5 kg, then the fetus is malnourished.

According to Dr. Nguyen Duc Hinh, deputy director of the Central Obstetrics Hospital, malnutrition is not the pathology of poor or poor countries alone. Up to three-quarters of cases cannot be found. The mother is still healthy, eating well, gaining weight evenly while the fetus is slow to develop.

The risk of maternal malnutrition increases in mothers who eat poorly, work too hard, conceive of pregnancy or have cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, smoking, drugs, multiple pregnancies. Infected, problematic pregnancy in vegetables . can also cause a baby to not grow well.

Delayed pregnancy may die in the uterus. The babies born due to their weakness are still present in the womb, so their health is poor and sick.

Difficult to diagnose and intervene

According to Dr. Hinh, the detection of malnutrition is not easy, especially at the provincial level or less.

Weight of the fetus is now diagnosed by ultrasound, but to know if the pregnancy is small, the determination of gestational age must be accurate. Meanwhile, many mothers do not remember exactly the first day of the last period, the cycle of menstruation is not even. Because the mother's body does not have clear symptoms, it is difficult to detect if the doctor does not examine well and the doctor is not good.

According to Dr. Nguyen Duc Hinh, even if the fetus is malnourished, many cases of doctors cannot significantly improve this situation. If the fetus is underdeveloped because the mother is too hard or poor to eat, it can be overcome by resting and fostering. Where nutrient exchange between mother and fetus is ineffective, there is currently no way to work.

Because in the uterus, the fetus is growing slowly, the doctor will consider the appropriate time for caesarean section earlier than the expected delivery date. Nourished effectively outside, the baby will catch up with normal growth rather than prolonging the hunger in the womb.

To detect malnutrition, mothers need to go for antenatal care periodically. Remember to remember the last day of your pregnancy before pregnancy to determine the exact gestational age. If you do not remember, your doctor can determine the gestational age by ultrasound if not more than 12 weeks. If the mother has a medical condition, more careful pregnancy monitoring and disease control should be followed in accordance with the physician's instructions.

Hai Ha