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Glite Dictionary
small-for-gestational-age infant

small-for-gestational-age infant

6.9
A baby who is much smaller and lighter than usual for their pregnancy length
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : bebé pequeño para la edad gestacional
  • A small-for-gestational-age infant may require extra medical care due to their lower weight at birth.

Examples

  • Doctors monitor the growth of a small-for-gestational-age infant to ensure they are developing properly.

  • It is important to provide appropriate nutrition to a small-for-gestational-age infant to support their health.

  • Breastfeeding exclusively works for late preterm infants, large for gestational age babies, small for gestational age infants, and everyone in between.

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Synonyms

SGA infant
vssmall-for-gestational-age infant
  • Specialized
7.6

A newborn much smaller and lighter than other babies born at the same stage of pregnancy

has the same clinical meaning but is the full non-abbreviated form

Surface Forms

small-for-gestational-age infant singular
small-for-gestational-age infants plural

Morphology

small-for-gestational-age + infant

The phrase is compositional: 'small' (reduced size) + 'for' (relative to) + 'gestational' (relating to pregnancy/gestation) + 'age' (time since conception) applied to 'infant' yields the meaning 'a baby who is smaller than expected for its gestational age.' Although the term is clinical/technical, its meaning is directly derivable from the constituent parts and follows a transparent comparative pattern that a learner who knows the component words would understand.

Etymology

Small-for-gestational-age infant comes from how doctors compare a baby's size to what is normal for their gestational age, meaning the number of weeks the baby spent in the womb. If a baby is clearly small for that 'gestational age', doctors call it small-for-gestational-age, so the name simply says the baby is smaller than expected for its time in the womb.