“Study of low birth weight babies and their association with maternal risk factors.”

Abstract

Objective: To study the prevalence of low birth weight babies and to find their association withmaternal risk factors. Methods: This is a hospital-based prospective, observational, conducted inKamineni Hospital, LB Nagar, Hyderabad. Data about maternal exposure to different risk factorswere recorded using a preformed questionnaire. The information included the socio-demographicprofile of the mother and her family, obstetric history of the mother especially about previous births,abortions, pre-pregnancy weight, height, weight gain during pregnancy, antenatal services obtainedby the mother. Results: Out of 286 newborns 77 newborns were of low birth weight i.e., theprevalence of low birth weight in my study was 26.9% Prevalence of low birth weight was more infemale babies, mothers from rural areas, illiterate mothers(40.54), more in mothers who hadpregnancy-induced hypertension(54.28), more in multigravida mothers, more in mothers who hadirregular antenatal check-ups (45.65%) more in mothers who gained less than 6kgs duringpregnancy, more in mothers who had oligohydramnios (50%). Conclusion: This study shows thatbio-demographic and prenatal care variables have the strongest influence in determining the birthweight of a baby. However, Socio-economic and demographic factors are significantly associatedwith prenatal care, which is one of the behavioral factors associated with low birth weight.