Symphysiofundal height growth curve and growth velocity in pregnant women in a Nigerian community

Abstract

A prospective survey of symphysiofundal height (SFH) was undertaken in 202 Nigerian pregnant women in Uromi, Edo State, Nigeria, with the objective of constructing an SFH growth chart for the pregnant population in the community. A customised gravidogram and a growth velocity curve were also constructed and compared with those derived in other regions of the world. The average SFH growth rate between 20 and 40 weeks was 0.8 cm/week. The gradient of the curve was not constant and the SFH growth rate changed with the progression of pregnancy. While the average SFH growth rate between 20 and 36 weeks was 0.9 cm/week, from 36 to 40 weeks there was a marked deceleration to 0.3 cm/week. The average deviation from the mean SFH was 1.96 cm. It is recommended that regional customised gravidograms be derived for different pregnant populations which should be reviewed periodically. With this, routine SFH assessments can help in early detection of fetal growth rate anomalies based on an understanding of the peculiarities of fetal growth patterns in each community.

FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) initiative on fetal growth: Best practice advice for screening, diagnosis, and management of fetal growth restriction

“…145 SFH measured in centimeters between 24 and 38 weeks of gestation approximates the gestational age. 147 Numerous local charts are currently used worldwide, [148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156] with the recent addition of an international standard for SFH based on serial measurements. 145 However, the accuracy of SFH measurement in predicting SGA (EFW <10th percentile) is limited, and there are no randomized controlled trials that compare SFH measurement with serial ultrasound evaluation of fetal biometry.…”

Identification of Fetal Growth Patterns with Customized Growth Charts: A prospective study in South India

“…Ebite LE et al in a prospective survey of SFH in 202 Nigerian pregnant women in Uromi, Nigeria, constructed a customized gravidogram and a growth velocity curve and compared with those derived in other regions of the world. 14 While the average SFH growth rate between 20 and 36 weeks was 0.9 cm/week, there was a marked deceleration to 0.3 cm/week from 36 to 40 weeks. The average deviation from the mean SFH was 1.96 cm.…”

Measurement of symphysis fundal height for gestational age estimation in low-to-middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…We extracted data from studies that reported average or median SFH measurements for general obstetric populations in LMIC across weeks 20 to 40 of gestation. Nineteen unique studies (8 in Africa, 11 in Asia, 1 in South America) reported population-based reference values of SFH in LMIC [44,[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65]. One study from Panama displayed graphs with 10% and 90% values, however did not display values or report on the 50% or mean and thus was not included [9].…”