KNUST SMS Lecturer Urges Review of Global Pregnancy Dating Standards
The final session of the School of Medical Sciences (SMS) Interdisciplinary Lecture Series at KNUST featured a presentation on the topic, “No One-Size-Fits-All: Rethinking the Applicability of Global Gestational Age Charts in Ghana.”
Dr. Atta Kusi Appiah from the Department of Anatomy raised concerns about the continued use of international gestational age charts to estimate pregnancy timelines in Ghana.
He explained that these charts, developed using data from other populations, may not accurately reflect pregnancy patterns among Ghanaian women.
Dr. Appiah advised that “midwives and sonographers should take a full menstrual history during the first antenatal visit”.
If there is a significant difference between the reported last menstrual period and ultrasound findings, further checks should be carried out to investigate possible foetal growth issues.
He also encouraged women to keep accurate records of their last menstrual period, noting that ultrasound scans should mainly confirm gestational age when those records are reliable.
Dr. Appiah called for more Ghana-specific research to evaluate how international pregnancy charts perform in detecting small or large babies at birth.
He also recommended investigating how different measurement cut-off points affect outcomes such as infant illness and survival.
He said better local data would help healthcare providers identify at-risk babies earlier, while avoiding unnecessary treatments for healthy ones.
The session was chaired by Prof. Pius Agbenorku, who described the presentation as highly relevant to improving maternal and child health outcomes in Ghana.
Prof. Akwasi Antwi Kusi, Dean of the School of Medical Sciences, thanked participants and announced that more interdisciplinary seminars will be held in the next academic semester.
