A STUDY ON MATERNAL WEIGHT GAIN AND ITS CORRELATION WITH BIRTH WEIGHT OF BABY AT TERM

Abstract

Background: Maternal weight gain is influenced by several trends in perinatal health that are of greatpublic health concern. Maternal weight gain during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters is an important determinant of fetal growth Objective: To determine the relationship between maternal weight gain and birth weight of baby at term. Methodology : A cross sectional observational study was carried among 50 pregnant women at term wereadmitted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Bhagalpur, Bihar during the period of January 2020 to July 2020. Data were collected pre-designed data collection sheet. Results: This study found maximum (36%) were age group 21-25 years followed by 28% were≤20 years,24% were 26-30 years, 8% were 31-35 years and only 4% were 36-40 years. The average age was 25 years. Among these 50 pregnant women, 2 cases (4%) had BMI <18.5, 15 cases (30%) had a BMI 18.5-24.9, 19 cases (38%) had a BMI 25-29.9 and 14 cases (28%) had a BMI ≥30. The mean birth weight was 2.77±0.33. kg. Mean weight gain was 10.72±3.72 Kg. Weight increased there was a corresponding increase in the mean birth weight and this relationship was statistically significant (<0.05). Conclusion: This study shows maternal weight gain significantly increased birth weight of the baby atterm. Maternal weight should continue to be given importance in monitoring the health of pregnancies and bioelectrical impedance analysis and arm measurements should be further investigated as another simple way to track appropriate body composition changes across gestation, especially in resource-limited settings. Although challenging, public health efforts should continue working to improve the nutritional status of women of reproductive age before they conceive as an apparent way to improve birth outcomes.