Anthropometry and neonatal aspects of newborns with gestational age of 41 to 42 weeks

Introduction: it is considered that the duration of a pregnancy is around 280 days (40 weeks) counted from the first day of the last menstrual period. Objective: to compare the 41 to 42 weeks of pregnancy with pregnancies of 37-40 weeks in a secondary care maternity, in relation to neonatal and anthropometric aspects of the newborns. Methodology: a total of 137 mothers and their newborns were studied, resulting in a sample of 37 for pregnancies of 41-42 weeks and 100 for pregnancies of 37-40 weeks. The dependent variable of the newborns were the anthropometric values, the neonatal outcomes were analysed by Apgar score (1 and 5 minutes), Capurro and its complications. Results: it was observed that for females, the comparison between the two groups in those aspects: anthropometric variables, Apgar scores and Capurro, not reach significance. For males, there were significance only for Capurro (p = 0.0015) parameter in the study group. Was significant the presence of fetal distress in the study group (p = 0,0188). Conclusions: the presence of fetal distress in the study group was significant, allowing to conclude that there must be caution in care practices in relation to pregnancies 41-42 weeks. Furthermore, with the increase of gestational age, there was no statistically significant increase in anthropometric parameters