What causes IUGR?
IUGR has various causes. The most common cause is a problem in the placenta (the tissue that carries food and blood to the baby). Birth defects and genetic disorders can cause IUGR. If the mother has an infection, high blood pressure, is smoking, or drinking too much alcohol or abusing drugs, her baby might have IUGR. Sometimes a prescribed medicine that the mother is taking causes IUGR. Did I cause this problem? Most of the causes of IUGR are beyond your control. Usually, nothing the mother did causes IUGR in her baby. But if you smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol or abuse drugs, you can cause IUGR in your baby. Do all small babies have IUGR? No. About one third of the babies who are small at birth have IUGR. The rest of them don’t have IUGR–they’re just smaller than normal. Just like there are different sizes of infants, children and adults, there are also different sizes of babies in the uterus. Small babies tend to run in families. The parents or other children in the family may have
