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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Fetal Echocardiography and Pulsed-wave Doppler Ultrasound in a Rabbit Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction
Published on: June 29, 2013
Prematurity and fetal growth restriction
1Perinatal Institute, Crystal Court, Aston Cross, Birmingham B6 5RQ, United Kingdom. gardosi@perinatal.nhs.uk
Insights
Accurate fetal growth assessment uses customized standards to predict optimal baby growth. This approach provides new insights into preterm birth causes, suggesting fetal adaptive responses to intrauterine conditions.
Area of Science:
- Perinatal care
- Fetal development
- Neonatal assessment
Background:
- Assessing fetal and neonatal growth is crucial for perinatal care.
- Distinguishing physiological from pathological growth factors is necessary.
- Predicting optimal fetal growth requires individualized, customized standards.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a method for calculating individualized, customized fetal growth standards.
- To apply these customized standards to assess preterm infant growth.
- To gain insights into the causes of prematurity and preterm labor.
Main Methods:
- Accurate dating of pregnancy.
- Individual adjustment for physiological characteristics.
- Exclusion of pathological factors (e.g., smoking).
- Utilizing fetal weight trajectories from normal term pregnancies.
- Applying customized standards to preterm infant growth assessment.
Main Results:
- Customized standards enable precise calculation of fetal growth status.
- Application to preterm infants reveals associations with fetal growth restriction.
- Fetal growth restriction often precedes spontaneous preterm labor.
Conclusions:
- Preterm labor initiation may be a fetal adaptive response to adverse intrauterine environments.
- Understanding fetal growth pathophysiology is key to managing preterm labor.
- Customized growth standards offer new perspectives on prematurity and fetal well-being.
Abstract:
Assessment of the growth status of the fetus and neonate is an essential component of perinatal care. It requires a distinction to be made between physiological and pathological factors, and the prediction of the optimal growth that a baby can achieve in a normal, uncomplicated pregnancy. Such an individually customised standard can now be easily calculated by computer: it needs to be accurately dated, individually adjusted for physiological characteristics, exclude pathological factors such as smoking, and be based on a fetal weight trajectory derived from normal term pregnancies. Application of a customised standard to calculate the growth status of preterm babies gives us freshly insights into the causes of prematurity. Fetal growth restriction is seen as a strongly associated factor, which is often present before the onset of spontaneous preterm labour. This raises the question whether, in many instances, the initiation of parturition should be seen as a fetal adaptive response aimed at escaping an unfavourable intrauterine environment. These concepts have implications for the understanding of the pathophysiology of preterm labour, as well as its clinical management.
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