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Obese Babies at Birth Pose Challenges to Delivering Doctors

by Kathy Jones on Nov 30 2010 9:12 PM

 Obese Babies at Birth Pose Challenges to Delivering Doctors
Doctors in Queensland, Australia are being taught how to break the bones and save lives of a new born in order to cope with the rising rate of obesity among would be mothers.
One of Brisbane’s obstetrician Dr Gino Pecoraro said that with majority of would be mothers now being obese, there is a danger of a condition known as shoulder dystocia developing during the delivery process where in babies over 4kg get stuck.

Dr Pecoraro revealed that the number of such cases are on the rise following the increasing rates of obesity and said that doctors need to be trained in the exact process of making sure that the delivery progresses safely for both the baby and the mother.

He went on to add that if the baby gets stuck then doctors break the collarbone to free it. The baby would then be unable to move its arm for a few weeks until the bone heals itself.

“It is an emergency situation where the baby's head comes out but the shoulders get stuck, compressing the umbilical cord which delivers oxygen. This is far more common in the past five years because of the obesity epidemic”, he said.


Source-Medindia


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