Gestational Age Assessment In The Newborn – A Review

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Assessment of gestational age of babies has been in existence for many years. There are several methods available which are used routinely. Some of these can assess gestational age prenatally while others are used postnatally.The importance of assessing gestational age cannot be overemphasized. It helps to anticipate problems that a newborn may develop and thereby ensures prompt management. It also helps to categorize low birth weight babies into preterm, small for gestational age or both and these all require different approaches to management. In our environment where pregnancy dates are sometimes uncertain, assessment of gestational age may help meet the needs of the newborn.METHOD: This is a review of various methods of assessing gestational age. Literature search was made through locally available literature, Google search engine, Pubmed and Medline search.