What is large for gestational age (LGA)?
Large for gestational age (LGA) is a term used to describe babies who are born weighing more than the usual amount for the number of weeks of pregnancy. LGA babies have birthweights greater than the 90th percentile for their gestational age, meaning that they weigh more than 90 percent of all babies of the same gestational age. The average baby weighs about 7 pounds at birth. About 8 percent of all babies weigh more than 4,000 grams (8 pounds, 13 ounces). Rarely do babies weigh over 10 pounds. Although most LGA babies are born at term (37 to 41 weeks of pregnancy), a few premature babies may be LGA.
