Prevalence and outcome of macrosomic babies admitted to special care baby unit of a Nigerian teaching hospital

Objective: Macrosomia has been defined as birth weight of 4.0kilogram and above. It is an important risk factor for perinatal asphyxia, birth injuries and fetal death. To determine the prevalence and outcome of management of macrosomic babies admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, Nigeria.Methods: This was a retrospective, cross sectional study. Data was extracted from the admission files of all macrosomic babies admitted to SCBU. Study period was January 2011 to December 2013. The data was analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0Results: Total admission was 2928, of which 61 were macrosomic babies (prevalence of 2.1%). Thirty eight (62.3%) were males and 23 (37.7%) females, with male to female ratio of 1.7:1. The Mean birth weight of the babies was 4.38kg. Caesarean section accounted for 82.9% of all the deliveries in the study group, thirteen (21.3%) babies had perinatal complications; 3.3% had birth injuries and sepsis each, 13.1 % had perinatal asphyxia and, 1.6% had jaundice. Sixty babies (97.6%) were discharged home, 2.4% signed against medical advice but, none died. Mean duration of hospital stay was 1.85days.Conclusion: The prevalence of 2.1% is comparable to some previous studies. Caesarean section was the major mode of delivery in women with macrosomic babies in this study. Accurate estimate of fetal weight in utero reduces the complications from fetal macrosomia.Keywords: Large-for-gestational age babies, outcome, Sokot