New and improved Israeli reference of birth weight, birth length, and head circumference by gestational age: a hospital-based study.

Background: Many centers in Israel still use pre-1970 reference data for neonatal weight, length and head circumference. A recently published population-based reference overestimated the weight of premature infants.

Objective: To develop a national reference for birth weight, birth length and head circumference by gestational age for singleton infants in Israel.

Are babies getting bigger? Secular trends in fetal growth in Israel--a retrospective hospital-based cohort study.

Background: A paradoxical secular trend of an increase in preterm births and a decrease in low birth weights has been reported in many developed countries over the last 25 years.

Objective: To determine if this trend is true for Israeli neonates, and to add new information on secular trends in crown-heel length and head circumference.

Methods: A hospital-based historic cohort design was used.