::Gestational age


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Birth weight and gestational age

Birth weight chart 2.svg

  • Large for gestational age: Weight is above the 90th percentile at gestational age
  • Macrosomia: Weight is above a defined limit at any gestational age
  • Appropriate for gestational age: Normal birth weight
  • Small for gestational age: Weight is below the 10th percentile at gestational age
  • Low birth weight: Weight is below a defined limit at any gestational age

Gestational age (or menstrual age) is a measure of the age of a pregnancy where the origin is the woman's last normal menstrual period (LMP), or the corresponding age as estimated by other methods. Such methods include adding 14 days to a known duration since fertilization (as is possible in in vitro fertilization), or by obstetric ultrasonography. The popularity of using such a definition of gestational age is that menstrual periods are essentially always noticed, while there is usually of a lack of a convenient way to discern when fertilization occurred.

The initiation of pregnancy for the calculation of gestational age can be different from definitions of initiation of pregnancy in context of the abortion debate or beginning of human personhood.

Gestational age sections
Intro   Methods   Comparison to fertilization age  Uses  See also  References  

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