Maternal determinants of birth weight of newborn

Birth weight of newborn is an indicator of child survival and is greatly influenced by the maternal factors and identifying the relationship between the maternal factors and the birth weight of newborn will be helpful in designing interventions to promote maternal health.

To identify the relationship between selected maternal factors and birth weight of newborn.

A cross sectional maternity centre based study was conducted with a sample size of 60 peri natal women, using purposive sampling technique. The demographic and obstetrical variable proforma and a structured questionnaire on maternal nutrition were used to collect the data.

A significant percentage of peri natal women had weight gain of less than 8 kg during their pregnancy 43%), Haemoglobin level of less than 10g/dl during the last trimester of pregnancy (63%) and 48.3% of them had total serum protein levels less than 6g/dl and 50% newborns weighed between 2.1 to 2.5 kg on birth. There was a positive correlation observed between birth weight of newborn and the maternal weight gain r = 0.744), maternal height (r = 0.263), maternal Hb level (r = 0.662) and serum total protein of the mother (r = 0.523). A majority of them (63%) had inadequate knowledge about maternal nutrition.

The study findings indicate that maternal weight gain, Hb level during last trimester and maternal serum protein level needs to be monitored and improved to normal levels as it influences the birth weight of newborns.