Dear Chris and All,
I believe that it is useful to emphasise two issues when discussing the mass
of babies.
1 The range of baby masses that babies choose for their arrival
An average bay has a baby mass of about 3.5 kg.
A heavy baby has a baby mass of 4.5 kg or more.
A light baby has a baby mass of 2.5 kg or less.
A very light baby has a baby mass of 1.5 kg or less and is regarded as a
'baby at risk'.
An interesting side issue to this matter of baby mass is that doctors and
nurses now gauge premature babies in terms of baby mass � in kilograms �
rather than in terms of weeks or months!
Curiously, the reason that people revert to old measures immediately after
the birth of a baby is to compare the new bairn with 'its sisters, and its
cousins, and it aunts' and its grandmothers, and its great-grandmothers, and
all of the respective babies that these ladies have had previously. A better
approach (for the safety of the present baby � see note 2) would be to find
the baby mass of all these ladies and their babies � in kilograms � and let
all of them know; at the end of this project all of these women would have a
feeling for the normal range of human babies.
2 Health treatments for babies
If a baby become ill and requires treatment, then the appropriate drugs are
invariably applied in millilitres or micrograms per kilogram of baby mass.
And if the baby's parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts have to muck
about with conversions from old measures at a time of emergency then I can't
wish the baby well � I can only wish it good luck.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
CAMS - Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist
- United States Metric Association
ASM - Accredited Speaking Member
- National Speakers Association of Australia
Member, International Federation for Professional Speakers
--
>> ===== Original Message From [EMAIL PROTECTED] =====
>> I really this think news is worth taking up with the newspapers concerned or
>> whatever body it is represents them. The baby, like all babies in Britain
>> for the past 30 years, was weighed on metric scales in hospital. Why the
>> need to convert? Or if you want to convert, the "real" metric weight should
>> in my view also have been given. This was a bit of a coup for the BMWA so I
>> don't think we should take it lying down.
>>
>> A friend of mine in the NHS tells me everything has been metric since before
>> she started nursing 30 years ago.
>
> My mother is a retired nurse, and I can confirm this.
>
> Herron and Thoburn have a letter in today's Independent (of all places!)
> complaining about the double standards of the government, by the fact that all
> media reports have been in imperial. I shall probably be responding, but I
> would encourage others to do so, too. Ideas on what to say would be welcomed.
>
> Chris
