Maternal Mid-Upper Arm Circumference as a Screening Tool to Predict Infant Birth Weight

Abstract

Highlights:1. This study investigated previous research that stated there is no significant correlation between a maternal’s mid-upper arm circumference and an infant's birth weight.2. This study’s findings show that mid-upper arm circumference can be used as a screening tool to predict infant birth weight. AbstractMid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) was commonly used in assessing chronic energy deficiency in women of childbearing age. In pregnancy, the mother's MUAC was mainly used for early detection of the possibility of low birth weight babies. However, some studies showed that maternal MUAC did not have a significant correlation with birth weight. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between nutritional status of pregnant women and birth weight. This study was conducted using an analytical observation method with a cross-sectional approach with 86 samples of mothers who gave birth at Jagir Public Health Centre, Surabaya, Indonesia, from July 2019 to December 2019 who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were obtained through secondary data from the medical records of Jagir Public Health Centre. They were analysed by Spearman test with a 95% confidence interval and 5% margin of error. Mostly (86.05%) mothers had good nutritional status (MUAC  23.5 cm). Only a few (3.49%) babies were born with low birth weight (< 2,500g) and as many as 1.16% of babies were born with large birth weight (> 4,000g). Based on the research conducted, mothers with low MUAC did not give birth to babies with low birth weights and instead gave birth to babies with normal birth weights. The results of the analysis related to the relationship of MUAC of pregnant women at Jagir Health Centre in the period July 2019-December 2019 had a significant relation to the birth weight of the baby they gave birth to. MUAC described the condition of muscle tissue and fat under the skin of the mother's arm, which was the storage of the energy for the mother. However, other factors affected the birth weight of the baby, such as the nutrient intake of the mother.