Macrosomic babies.

A review of 3,241 delivery records was made to study the obstetrics and the neonatal outcomes of 129 macrosomic (greater than or equal to 4,000g) babies. They were found to have a nearly 6-fold increase in the neonatal morbidity rate compared with normosomic babies. The emergency Caesarean section rate for nulliparas and parous women with macrosomic babies was 41.3% and 8.4% respectively. Among macrosomic babies, shoulder dystocia was not associated with maternal stature, induction of labour, use of oxytocin or abnormal labour patterns, but was associated with instrumental delivery. Macrosomic babies with shoulder dystocia after instrumental delivery had a higher neonatal morbidity rate than those delivered spontaneously.