What Causes a Baby to Stop Growing in the Womb in Pregnancy?

After getting married, becoming a mother is one of the most rewarding experiences for every woman. Though, most of them get this experience without any major treatment or care while few women manage to conceive the child after getting treatments. And carrying such babies in the womb for nine months and delivering them safely is a challenging task for every woman.

In fact, sometimes few babies do not grow properly or the mother faces some kind of complications that leads to miscarriage or abortion-causing physical as well as mental agony to the mother and other family members who are waiting for the baby to get delivered safely. Do you know babies not growing in the womb first trimester or later weeks have many reasons? Let us know the top ones creating pregnancy-related problems. 

Top Reasons for Baby Not Growing in Womb with Preventive Measures 

Actually, when a baby’s growth stops in the womb it’s called intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), also known as fetal growth restriction (FGR). And IUGR is a kind of condition in which an unborn baby is smaller than normal size during that phase of pregnancy. And delayed growth puts the baby at risk of low-weight birth or if not cured timely death of the baby before delivery. 

Apart from mental, fetal, placental or uterine, there are multiple reasons baby not growing in womb first trimester like unhealthy diets, excessive consumption of caffeine, alcohol or smoking. So let’s find out what are the major causes baby stops growth in the womb.

#1 Poor Eating Habits & Lifestyle of Mother

The most prominent reasons baby stops growing in womb are the poor lifestyle and eating habits of the mother. As per the research lack of proper nutrition like vitamins or folic acid, drug misuse, smoking, alcohol consumption and improper sleep or rest stops fetal growth.

Hence, a pregnant woman needs to keep in touch with doctors to get extra nutrition or health supplements and a list of foods that should be taken or avoided during the pregnancy. The diets can be different at the initial stage compared to a baby stops growing in womb at 37 weeks.

#2 Pre-eclampsia or Higher Sugar Levels

Pre-eclampsia is a kind of disorder in pregnancy which is also called pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) that causes the veins to compress affecting the growth of the fetus because of restricted blood flow to the placenta.  

This process directly affects the supply level of oxygen to the baby and also decreased the supply of other essential supplements to the womb resulting in the slow growth of babies.  

#3 Low Level of Amniotic Fluids in Womb

An optimum Amniotic fluid is important or you can say protective liquid for fetal growth in a womb. If the level of amniotic fluid falls below normal it causes the problems like slow growth of the baby or complications for the mother in severe conditions.

The various reasons behind the low amniotic fluid could be a mother taking excessive or unsuitable medicines, health conditions of the mother, rapture in the amniotic sac, placenta abruption or low consumption of water or other liquids by the mother etc.

#4 Umbilical Cord or Placental abnormalities

The umbilical cord is a long tube that connects the fetus or baby with the placenta of the mother for supplying oxygen and other important nutrients. Basically, the umbilical line typically contains two umbilical arteries, one of which carries blood from the placenta to the unborn child. And any kind of abnormality like a single artery causes the slow growth of the fetus. 

Similarly, the placenta is also an important part of the womb and works as an oxygen supply and nutrient provider from mother to fetus. Any kind of inefficiency or placental insufficiency leads to an inadequate supply of oxygen and nutrients resulting in slow fetus growth. 

#5 Multiple Pregnancies or Bacterial Infections

If the mother is conceived with two or more babies the fetus’s growth is affected due to an insufficient supply of nutrients from the single placenta to multiple fetuses in the same womb. Therefore mothers with twins, triplets or more babies have higher chances of pre-eclampsia.

However, the number of babies growing in the mother’s womb can be identified at the initial stage of pregnancy with an accurate medical imagining scan that is possible only through advanced ultrasound and body scanning machines to detect the various conditions of the human body. 

Similarly, if the fetus is exposed to the infections like syphilis (sexually transmitted bacterial infection), cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis or rubella also called german measles passed through the mother also makes the fetus weak to grow properly in the mother’s womb.   

#6 Parents Chromosomal Abnormalities 

Scientifically perceiving it is one of the other reasons, baby growth in the womb stops or becomes slows down. It is a kind of disorder or missing, extra, or irregular portion of chromosomal DNA that comes from parents and affects the growth of babies with birth defects. 

Chromosome disorder is a kind of abnormal condition due to something unusual in an individual’s chromosomes which can be caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21 or the presence of only a single sex chromosome causing such abnormalities.  

How to Prevent IUGR or Cure Slow Fetal Growth?

Few causes of IUGR are uncontrollable or little you can do, especially if diagnosed at a later stage of pregnancy. The only best way to prevent slow fetal growth is to visit your doctor regularly and get a checkup or ultrasound of the baby inside the womb at regular intervals. Baby not growing in the womb first trimester becomes difficult to prevent.  

And to avoid slow fetus growth try to live a healthy life like staying away from smoking, alcohol, and stress, get adequate sleep and rest while keeping your diet balanced and nutritious for a healthy lifestyle that will also help you avoid any other complications during pregnancy.       

Summing-up

Though, owing to speedy growth in new technology like AI in radiology health conditions and diseases are becoming easier to diagnose at the initial stage allowing doctors to take preventive actions and avoid complications for patients or pregnant ladies.

AI and machine learning nowadays are playing a crucial role in healthcare like diagnosing various types of illness through medical imaging and helping doctors to provide timely and better medical treatment and care facilities to everyone.