BACKGROUND: It has been the practice of clinicians to compare birth weights with a standard nomogram applicable to a certain population in order to identify those infants who are at high risk for neonatal mortality and morbidity by defining which neonates are small or large for gestational age. However, this standard was formulated based on birth weights of a particular population in a Western country and therefore, may not be applicable to a third world country such as the Philippines.
METHODS: Birth weights of neonates who were delivered as singleton live births at the Philippine General Hospital from January 2006 to December 2008 were determined based on a perinatal database.
RESULTS: The tenth and ninetieth percentiles of birth weights of neonates in the Philippine General Hospital were generally similar to the western nomogram. However, more conclusive evidence could be derived from a population based study rather than a hospital-based study such as this.