Can Fetal Macrosomia be Prevented?

Abstract

Fetal macrosomia is an obstetric complication that makes child birth hazardous to women in labor, and sometimes an enigma to medical practitioners. It tasks the skills of obstetricians and places a burden on human and material medical resources. There is therefore a need for the prevention of fetal macrosomia in order to reduce the accompanying feto-maternal morbidity and mortality. Though nutritional restriction has been suggested, it seems that better preventive strategies need to be developed, since clinical trials have established that low glycemic index food do not necessarily reduce incidence of fetal macrosomia in susceptible women. However, quantification of food intake and the magnitude of disparity between high and low glycemic index foods administered to control and intervention groups, need to be known in order to fully validate the outcome of randomized controlled trial.

Keywords: Fetal Macrosomia, feto-maternal health, Maternal morbidity and mortality, Child health