Maternal and Socioeconomic Factors responsible for Low Birth Weight (1.5kg - 2.5 kg) in Rural Tertiary Care Centre

Sayori N. Murarka; Sunil S. Holikar; Sambhaji C. Chate

Volume : IX, Issue : VI, June - 2020

Maternal and Socioeconomic Factors responsible for Low Birth Weight (1.5kg - 2.5 kg) in Rural Tertiary Care Centre

Sayori N. Murarka, Sunil S. Holikar, Sambhaji C. Chate

Abstract :

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) contributes a major share in perinatal and neonatal mortality. Major challenge in field of public health is to identify the factors influencing LBW and to institute remedial measures. Therefore, to reduce the LBW deliveries, present study was undertaken to determine the maternal causes of LBW among mothers who delivered at Tertiary Care Hospital. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among 300 mothers (150 with LBW babies and 150 with birth weight >2.5kg) over a period of 6 months from January 2019 to June 2019. Data was collected on structured, pre–designed questionnaire. All babies were weighted on electronic weighing scale within 24 hours of delivery. Data on clinical and biochemistry parameters were retrieved from medical records and compared on the basis of percentages and significance was assessed using chi squared test (p< 0.0001). Results: The prevalence of LBW was significantly associated with: 1) Maternal age, 66.66% of mothers with LBW babies were < 19 years. 2) Weight before pregnancy, 60% of mothers with LBW babies weighed <40kg before pregnancy. 3) Birth–conception interval, 58.82% of mothers with LBW babies had interval <23months. 4) Place of residence, 80% of mothers with LBW babies lived in urban areas. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of avoiding child marriages and having adequate birth spacing of minimum 2 years and need to increase efforts to improve maternal nutrition. Further studies to investigate the significance of stress, pollution and other factors associated with urban life impacting birth weight are needed.