Midwife says 7 lb baby is very small these days

mtnbride1 · October 2008

She told me today that the baby will be around 7, and when I commented, "That seems to be about average," she said, "Not anymore." Apparently there have been a lot of big babies born lately! She's delivering a 7-pounder today and is excited about it.

shaykrista · October 2008

Wow that makes me a little nervous

MrsGsoon · October 2008

It is probably because of increased maternal care during pregnancy, but I can't shake my initial thought of Americans becoming so much larger in general. Why are we all getting to be so big?!?!? Wonder what the average is in European countries

oughtonk · October 2008

Yea, crazy! My doc was telling me she considers an 8 pound baby pretty small. I'm interested to see how big DS ends up being because genetically both our mom's have big babies, all over 9 pounds.

halij52002 · October 2008

Hmm... DD was 6lb 4oz! And that was considered normal. She was tiny of course but I always thought 7lbs was a pretty good weight!

Kentuckychick_8201 · October 2008

Wouldn't it be great to have a 7lb baby? seems average to me.

chantell7@gmail.com · October 2008

In the UK where I am from the average baby is still 7.3 lbs. It amazes me that it is considered small here. I hope I am more in line with the UK, I would be happy with a small baby.

MrsCole · October 2008

My cousin brought her 1 month old to my shower and he was 7 something pounds and I thought - my god, my guy will probably be bigger then him when he comes out!

It was a little scary to think of it that way! I mean, I can't even imagine getting a baby that size out let alone larger!

kds24 · October 2008

Yeah, I thought somewhere around 7 or 7 1/2 was average. I'm anticipating over 8 pounds based on family history and his measurements and I don't consider him to be "big" if he is under 9 pounds.

EmmaRain · October 2008

In school they said birth weight for American babies is typically between 6 lbs 2 oz and 9 lbs 2 oz. Even within that range, any weight over 8 lbs 14 oz is medically considered macrosomia (high birth weight). They don't really look at that though, unless the baby is large for gestational age.

I'm surprised she said that 7 doesn't seem to be average anymore, unless she treats a lot of patients with GD.

Coleslawcat · October 2008

My OB said my DD was very average and she was 7-5. He thought DS would be average too and he was 9-4. The were both vaginal deliveries and believe it or not, the 9-4 one was a lot easier, both in pushing and recovery.