Updated Size at Birth Charts for South Indian Neonates

This retrospective descriptive observational study was conducted to determine the South Indian population-based size at birth charts for the birth weight, length, and head circumference with the data of 105,226 newborns born from 1999 to 2021 at a tertiary care hospital in southern India. The gender-specific smoothened size at birth growth reference curves for the birth weight, length and head circumference percentile curves were generated for each completed gestational age in weeks by the Generalized Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) approach. However, the neonates born to the mothers with maternal morbidities like hypertension, diabetes and anemia were excluded to make these reference charts nearer to the standard charts. This largest updated size at birth curves might reflect as appropriate reference curves for South Indian infants.