The Effect of Age and Parity of the Mother on Birth Weight of the Offspring

Factors affecting birth weight in Cape Coast, Ghana

“…17 In this study, the mean birth weight of males was 3.27±0.49kg and that of the females was 3.25±0.53kg confirming the findings from an earlier study suggesting that male babies were generally heavier than female babies. 17 The present study also found that babies born to mothers who were aged ˂19 years had a lower mean birth weight compared to babies whose mothers were more than 19 years of age. These findings are similar to other studies that have documented a tendency of increasing birth weight with maternal age.…”

Birth weight and sibship size

“…This finding, however, does not extend to all samples (Fraccaro, 1955(Fraccaro, , 1958Millis & You Poh Seng, 1954), possibly because low social class is associated with both low birth weight and high fertility. At any rate, it seemed reasonable to hypothesize that, in some societies, women who are prone to bear heavy babies are more fertile (have more infants) than other women.…”

Effects of Parity on Birth Weight and Other Variables in a Tanganyika Bantu Sample

“…Mean birth weights of firstborn are as expected below those in later pregnancies and there appears to be a general increase in parity in both sexes. As Millis and Seng (1954) in Chinese, Fraccaro (1956) in Italians, Banerjee and Roy (1962) in Indians, and other authors have shown, the relationship between birth weight and parity tends to be curvilinear. Second-degree polynomials were fitted to the present data, the equations being in males y = 6 136 + 125x -00799X2, and in females y = 6*043 + *053x --00156x2, where y is the birth weight in pounds, and x the number of previous pregnancies of the mother (Fig.…”