After your baby's gender is announced and all of her fingers and toes have been accounted for, the next question on many minds is, "How much did she weigh?" Ultimately, no single weight is ideal for every newborn, but observing a baby's weight and growth patterns can help parents and pediatricians gauge her overall health.
Typical Size
Healthy, full-term newborns come in a variety of sizes. Most babies born between 37 and 40 weeks' gestation weigh from 6 lbs., 2 oz. to 9 lbs., 2 oz., according to Nemours, a pediatric health care system. Although a heavier or lighter full-term newborn is likely to be healthy, he likely will receive extra attention from medical attendants to ensure he doesn't have any underlying medical conditions.
Low Birth Weight
A baby may be considered low birth weight if she weighs under 5 lbs., 8 oz., and very low birth weight if she weighs under 3 lbs., 5 oz. Most babies born at low or very low birth weights have been born prematurely, or before 37 weeks of pregnancy, according to Nemours. Some risks associated with low birth weights include feeding problems, breathing problems, trouble regulating body temperature, immature liver function and heart failure, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Women who have had premature babies in the past, women who are pregnant with multiples and women who have cervix or uterine abnormalities are at higher risk of having babies prematurely, according to the March of Dimes. Other risk factors for pre-term birth are smoking and drinking during pregnancy, infection in the mother or the fetus and inadequate weight gain during pregnancy.
High Birth Weight
A newborn who weighs more than 9 lbs., 15 oz. is considered high birth weight, according to BabyCenter.com. Large babies, particularly those born to mothers who have diabetes, may experience problems with maintaining blood sugar levels and need extra feedings or intravenous glucose to prevent their blood sugars from dipping dangerously low, according to Nemours. Risks of having a difficult delivery also rise with a large baby, potentially leading to increased tearing of the mother's perineum, blood loss and tailbone damage. Another risk is that a large baby's shoulder may get stuck behind the mother's pubic bone, which could be fatal for the baby if the problem isn't addressed quickly.
Other factors that are believed to increase a woman's risk of having a large baby include obesity, large weight gain in pregnancy, having a male baby, being Hispanic, delivery beyond the due date and having had large babies in the past, according to BabyCenter.com.
Other Factors Influencing Size
Other than duration of pregnancy, factors such as gender, the size of the parents, the mother's health during pregnancy and the baby's health can affect her birth weight, according to Nemours. For example, a healthy male infant whose parents were born in the upper ranges of average birth weight may weigh more than a healthy female infant whose parents weighed in the lower ranges of average at birth, but an ill male infant with the same characteristics may end up weighing less than the healthy female.
What Comes Next
Most newborns drop between 7 percent and 10 percent of their birth weight within the first few days of life, but they should gain that weight back within two weeks, according to Nemours. At that point, they may gain about 5 to 7 oz. per week, doubling their birth weight by 5 or 6 months of age, according to the Mayo Clinic. Ultimately, birth weight doesn't necessarily play a factor in a person's adult size; tall teens may have been tiny babies and large babies may grow to be thin and short. However, chances are that babies will grow to be similar in size to their parents.
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