Malnutrition of the Newborn Secondary to Placental Abnormalities

Abstract

SINCE statements of neither the day of conception nor the date of the last menstruation are usually reliable, most physicians consider an infant weighing less than 2.5 kg. (5/2 pounds) to be premature. The diagnosis of "prematurity by weight only" is frequently made when information indicates a full-term pregnancy.Some of these infants regarded as premature solely because of their weight can be assumed to be hereditarily small. Others are malnourished.Recently, 3 such undernourished infants, whose poor nutritional status presumably was caused by abnormalities of the placenta, came to my attention. The clinical course was similar in all and . . .