Resumo

UBEH, Chidimma et al. The prevalence and pregnancy-related outcomes of small-for-gestational-age newborns in Johannesburg, South Africa. WJCM [online]. 2025, vol.7, n.3, pp.102-110. ISSN 2618-0197.  https://doi.org/10.18772/26180197.2025.v7n3a1.

BACKGROUND: Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) newborns are those whose birth weight is less than the 10th percentile for their gestational age. SGA is associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality during the perinatal period. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and perinatal outcomes of SGA newborns. METHOD: The study involved 291 singleton newborns who were born small for gestational age between 33 weeks and 0 days and 42 weeks and 6 days at a large public hospital in South Africa. Neonates who are small for gestational age were identified from the birth register using the Intergrowth-21 chart. Data on the perinatal outcomes of SGA newborns were collected from their mothers' maternity records and analysed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: During the study period, there were a total of 7,837 births, of which 10.6% (834) were SGA. Among the SGA babies, the majority were male (56.0%), and about half of them had low birth weight (49.9%). Most (83.5%) of SGA newborns were born at term, while 16.5% were born preterm. Approximately two-thirds of the SGA newborns (71.5%) were delivered by caesarean section, with foetal compromise being the reason for the caesarean delivery in 69.7% of cases. Almost all SGA newborns (96.6%) had APGAR scores of 7 or higher at five minutes. Approximately 29.5% of the neonates were admitted to the neonatal nursery, and one out of 291 SGA newborns died within the first 24 hours of life. CONCLUSION: One in ten neonates born at a large urban hospital in South Africa is small for gestational age. Although SGA status is linked to a higher incidence of caesarean delivery, most of these newborns do not demonstrate adverse perinatal outcomes, indicating that many may be constitutionally small rather than pathologically small for gestational age.

Palavras-chave : Small for gestational age; perinatal outcomes; caesarean section; APGAR scores.

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