Fetal trajectories characterizing growth rates in utero have relied primarily on goodness of fit rather than mechanistic properties exhibited in utero. Here, we use a validated fetal-placental allometric scaling law and a first principles differential equations model of placental volume growth to generate biologically meaningful fetal-placental growth curves. The growth curves form the foundation for understanding healthy versus at-risk fetal growth and for identifying the timing of key events in utero.
Keywords: differential equation; fetal growth curves; logistic growth model; nonlinear regression; placenta; placental volume.