The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The velocity of fetal growth is associated with the breadth of the placental surface, but not with the length

The velocity of fetal growth is associated with the breadth of the placental surface, but not with the length
The velocity of fetal growth is associated with the breadth of the placental surface, but not with the length
OBJECTIVES: Studies of the placenta in pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia have led to the suggestion that tissue along the length and breadth of its surface has different functions. A recent study in Saudi Arabia showed that the body size of newborn babies was related to the breadth of the surface at birth but not to its length. We have now examined whether the association between placental breadth and body size reflects large size of the baby from an early stage of gestation or rapid growth between early and late gestation.

METHODS: We studied 230 women who gave birth to singleton babies in King Khalid Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In total, 176 had ultrasound measurements both before 28 weeks and at 28 weeks or later, which we define as early and late gestation. We used these to calculate growth velocities between early and late gestation, which we expressed as the change in standard deviation scores over a 10-week period.

RESULTS: The breadth of the placental surface was correlated with fetal growth velocity. The correlation coefficients were 0.24 (P?=?0.002) for the head circumference, 0.24 (P?=?0.001) for the biparietal diameter and 0.34 (P?<?0.001) for the abdominal circumference. The length of the surface was not related to fetal growth velocity.

CONCLUSIONS: Tissue along the breadth of the placental surface may be more important than tissue along the length in the transfer of nutrients from mother to baby. This may be part of a wider phenomenon of regional differences in function across the placental surface.
1042-0533
534-537
Alwasel, Saleh H.
130bfdc4-555f-451a-9f0c-54c2a8c9e795
Harrath, Abdul Halaim
09b69e3a-abb8-4f1b-9dda-98582569e8fa
Alijarallah, Jamal S.
bcda523d-57e8-46d0-b1f9-42d009c3e357
Abotalib, Zeinab
3f175241-ba7f-4c1d-9a5e-9d31ad7881f5
Osmond, C.
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Al Omar, S.Y.
5dfaf365-9a15-4fcd-b649-8187fd359344
Thornburg, Kent
b407f955-ba0d-458b-8e16-5c536ab12605
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Alwasel, Saleh H.
130bfdc4-555f-451a-9f0c-54c2a8c9e795
Harrath, Abdul Halaim
09b69e3a-abb8-4f1b-9dda-98582569e8fa
Alijarallah, Jamal S.
bcda523d-57e8-46d0-b1f9-42d009c3e357
Abotalib, Zeinab
3f175241-ba7f-4c1d-9a5e-9d31ad7881f5
Osmond, C.
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Al Omar, S.Y.
5dfaf365-9a15-4fcd-b649-8187fd359344
Thornburg, Kent
b407f955-ba0d-458b-8e16-5c536ab12605
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243

Alwasel, Saleh H., Harrath, Abdul Halaim, Alijarallah, Jamal S., Abotalib, Zeinab, Osmond, C., Al Omar, S.Y., Thornburg, Kent and Barker, David J.P. (2013) The velocity of fetal growth is associated with the breadth of the placental surface, but not with the length. American Journal of Human Biology, 25 (4), 534-537. (doi:10.1002/ajhb.22405). (PMID:23657899)

Record type: Article

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Studies of the placenta in pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia have led to the suggestion that tissue along the length and breadth of its surface has different functions. A recent study in Saudi Arabia showed that the body size of newborn babies was related to the breadth of the surface at birth but not to its length. We have now examined whether the association between placental breadth and body size reflects large size of the baby from an early stage of gestation or rapid growth between early and late gestation.

METHODS: We studied 230 women who gave birth to singleton babies in King Khalid Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In total, 176 had ultrasound measurements both before 28 weeks and at 28 weeks or later, which we define as early and late gestation. We used these to calculate growth velocities between early and late gestation, which we expressed as the change in standard deviation scores over a 10-week period.

RESULTS: The breadth of the placental surface was correlated with fetal growth velocity. The correlation coefficients were 0.24 (P?=?0.002) for the head circumference, 0.24 (P?=?0.001) for the biparietal diameter and 0.34 (P?<?0.001) for the abdominal circumference. The length of the surface was not related to fetal growth velocity.

CONCLUSIONS: Tissue along the breadth of the placental surface may be more important than tissue along the length in the transfer of nutrients from mother to baby. This may be part of a wider phenomenon of regional differences in function across the placental surface.

Text
Alwasel The velocity of fetal growth AJHB.pdf - Author's Original
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 9 May 2013
Published date: July 2013
Organisations: Human Development & Health

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 355124
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/355124
ISSN: 1042-0533
PURE UUID: c096eb74-36d9-4453-a6d3-f01735ce0e31
ORCID for C. Osmond: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9054-4655

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 07 Aug 2013 11:45
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:50

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Saleh H. Alwasel
Author: Abdul Halaim Harrath
Author: Jamal S. Alijarallah
Author: Zeinab Abotalib
Author: C. Osmond ORCID iD
Author: S.Y. Al Omar
Author: Kent Thornburg
Author: David J.P. Barker

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×