It’s the proportionately of a newborn — a measure that includes both birthweight and length — that may best tell doctors whether a child is born with an increased risk for heart problems later in life, investigators report.
Birthweight, while important, tells only part of the story of fetal growth, while the additional consideration of length, gives a more complete picture of both fetal growth and growth trajectory, says Dr. Brian Stansfield, neonatologist at the Medical College of Georgia and Children’s Hospital of Georgia at Augusta University.
