Paul et al used nomograms to describe the weight change in an infant in the first month after vaginal delivery. The authors are from Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Kaiser Permanente Oakland and the University of California in San Francisco.
An infant loses 0 to 10% of body weight over the first 2 to 4 days after delivery, then gradually increases in weight for the rest of the first month.
Patient selection: vaginal delivery
Time interval modeled: 4 to 28 days after delivery (to cover the rise after the nadir)
Outcome: percent weight change from birth weight, with weight in grams