Zimbabwean birthweight for gestation standards

Birthweight for gestation standards were derived in a study of 5,872 women with ascertainable menstrual dates in Harare, Zimbabwe. The smoothed 5th, 50th and 95th centiles of birthweight for gestation were described for 24 to 42 weeks and these fitted linear quadratic functions. Male infants were significantly heavier than females from 36 weeks onwards and parity differences appeared at 38 weeks gestation. The results suggest that in this population, low birthweight should be defined as 2,000gm or less, rather than a birthweight of less than 2,500gm.