Abstract

Background: One of the poor outcomes of pregnancy that has caught the attention of the World Health Organization is low birth weight (LBW). An infant’s weight at birth is an important indicator of maternal health and nutrition before and during pregnancy and a predictor of infant growth and survival.

Objectives: (i) To find out the percentage of LBW of baby. (ii) To study the various maternal factors associated with LBW.

Materials and Method: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted on pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in tertiary care hospital by convenience sampling method over a period of 2 years including 407 women after taking consent using semi-structured questionnaire and followed up after delivery and record birth weight of newborn from record.

Results: The proportion of LBW in the present study was found to be 34.64%. 50% and 55.07% teenage and advanced age women delivered LBW babies, respectively. Nearly, 68.18% LBW babies were born to tobacco addicted women. Women having less than adequate antenatal care (ANC) visits had a higher proportion of LBW babies (46.77%). Women who registered late in pregnancy had more proportion of babies delivered with LBW (56.63%). Weight gain of mother in pregnancy and birth weight of newborn was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.01). 87.5% pre-term delivered babies were LBW.

Conclusion: More emphasis should be given on ANC services to identify the various risk factors to reduce the incidence of LBW in the community.

Key words: World Health Organization; Maternal Factors; Low Birth Weight; Antenatal Care