Every time a baby is born in an upstate New York hospital, such as Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, New York, Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare in Utica, New York, Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, New York, St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse, New York, Oswego Hospital in Oswego, New York, or Auburn Hospital in Auburn, New York, the baby’s birth weight is recorded. That data is made available to researchers who study trends in newborn birth weights.
A recent Harvard study reports that newborn birth weights are down in the United States by about 1.8 ounces. Average birth weights now hover around 7 pounds 6 ounces. The decline in baby weight is a positive development as larger babies are at greater risk for birth injuries and birth trauma, such as a shoulder dystocia because a baby’s body is too big for the birth canal or where a baby sustains brain damage from a lack of oxygen that leads to cerebral palsy. Macrosomic babies, including large babies because of a failure to diagnose gestational diabetes, are also at greater risk for diabetes and obesity later in life.
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