Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Low Birth Weight Neonates in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Northern India

Abstract

Low birth weight is �����= by many socio-economic factors like habitat, urban or rural, education, birth order, substance abuse by mother, religion and caste, age of mother nutritional status of mother, Body Mass Index, Hemoglobin level etc., quality of ante-natal care received (ANC) and spacing of pregnancies. Low birth weight babies pose challenge to the families and communities. They contribute major share in perinatal and neonatal mortality and also towards mental, physical and development challenges in pediatric population. Objective:To assess the impact of maternal social factors on the birth weight of newborn. Study setting:This study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital attached to Subharti medical college of Meerut District. Study design:Hospital based Cross sectional study.Study population: 325 women delivering live infants in the study setting.Study period: Six months i.e. from January 2011 to June 2011. Material and methods:All 325 mothers who delivered live infants in a tertiary care hospital attached to Subharti medical college, Meerut District were interviewed. Data was collected on a structured, pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. Statistical analysis: Data was entered in Microsoft Excel and the results were expressed as proportions. Results:The overall prevalence of LBW neonates was 32.3%. Majority (71.42%) of mothers was living in rural areas and 52.39% of the mothers belonged to joint families. 52.39% of the mothers were illiterate. Majority of mothers (76.19%) were housewives and their socio-economic status was IV th class (47.61%). The highest prevalence of LBW was found among mothers aged <18 years (42.86%), addicted to tobacco chewing (53.33%) and smoking (33.33%). Among mothers with pre pregnancy weight was less than 40 kg seen in 80.96%. Prevalence was seen (47.61%) of LBW was inversely proportional to the 6.0-8.0 gm Hemoglobin level and Primiparous mothers was found to be (42.86 %) and in parity of >5 (23.80%). Conclusion:Birth weight remained an important factor affecting the neonatal infant and childhood mortality and morbidity. Low birth weight babies are more likely to have disabilities in four of developmental delay, poor growth and mental disabilities. For reducing the prevalence of low birth weight, public health strategy needs to focus attention on better maternal nutrition and education.

Low birth weight and its sociodemographic correlates: a descriptive study from medical college hospital, Maharashtra

“…No significant association could be revealed between type of family and birth weight of baby (p>0.05). The present study findings are in confirmation with Bortane et al, Chaudhary et al and Agarwal et al 7,11,17 In Table 6, Out of 1154 mothers, maximum i.e. 402 mothers were belonging to class IV, 381 were to class V, 230 mothers belonged to class III, 99 mothers to class II and 42 mothers belonged to class I.…”

“…These differences may be attributed to different geographical settings. [9][10][11][12][13][14] In [15][16][17] However the present study findings are not in confirmation with, Bhargavaet al who observed 38.1% among rural cohort had a birth weight of 2500 gm or less compared to 41.4% in urban areas, Balaji et al observed that among the mothers who had newborn babies with low birth weight, (11.08%) belonged to rural population and 11.84% in peri-urban population, but there was no statistically significant difference. 18,19 This difference is usually attributed to the fact that these studies were conducted in per-urban areas usually identical to slums where the problem of low birth weight and malnutrition is comparatively more than rural area.…”

Incidence and Risk Factors of Low Birth Weight Among Babies Delivered at Tertiary Level Teaching Hospital in Nepal

“…12 Agarwal et al in his study also showed that GA <37 weeks was a significant determinant of LBW (p <0.0000). 15 It seems that in developing countries majority of LBW are born at term while in industrialised countries the majority are preterm.…”

Effect of maternal weight on fetal outcome

“…Inadequacy of nutritional status within reproductive age and pregnancy is an important health and nutritional problem among women and their children, which might bring undesirable consequences to reproductive health, as well as negatively contribute to child development, with reflections on birth conditions and morbimortality rates [10]. For reducing the prevalence of low birth weight, public health strategy needs to focus attention on better maternal nutrition [4].…”

“…Rosenzweig and Schultz argue that one of the key measures of child health is that of birth weight [3]. Low birth weight is the single most important factor affecting infant morbidity and mortality [4]. However there is growing evidence that the adverse consequences of low birth weight continue throughout the life cycle [5].…”