Estimation of gestational age by neurological assessment in first week of life.

Abstract

The work of Andre Thomas in France and Heinz Prechtl in the Netherlands has increased interest in the reflex behaviour of the newbom infant, and the possible diagnostic and prognostic value of neuro- logical assessment in the first week of life. It has been shown that the immature infant is neuro- logically different from his full-term counterpart and though babies bom in the seventh month of pregnancy show nearly all the behaviour patterns of the full-term infant, there are differences in intensity, amplitude, and consistency of the re- sponses (Prechtl, 1965).