Association between maternal antenatal care visits and newborn low birth weight in Bangladesh: a national representative survey

Sumaia Sahrin,Md Sabbir Ahmed,Fakir Md Yunus

doi:10.12688/f1000research.54361.1

Sumaia Sahrin, Md Sabbir Ahmed + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.54361.1

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Abstract

Background: Low Birth Weight (LBW) is a global health concern for childhood mortality and morbidity. The objectives of this study were to assess the association between the number of Antenatal Care Visits (ANC) and LBW among Bangladeshi newborns, and to identify the demographic and socio-economic predictors of LBW. Methods: Our present cross-sectional study is based on the secondary data of the Bangladesh Demography and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014. Complete data of 4,235 (weighted) mother-child pairs were included in the analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of LBW among newborns were found to be 19.3% (95% CI: 17.8-20.9). Among the mothers who received antenatal care services 1-3 times during pregnancy, 35% had less possibility of having LBW babies [COR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.50-0.85]. The association remained significant after adjusting the analysis with the sex of the newborn, administrative regions (division), maternal educational status, mother’s weight status and fathers’ occupation [AOR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.55-0.99]. Additionally, the sex of the newborn, division, maternal education, maternal weight status, and fathers’ occupational status were found to be significantly associated with LBW. Conclusion: Increasing the coverage of antenatal services and enabling mothers to receive quality antenatal services may substantially contribute to reducing the prevalence of LBW in Bangladesh.

Highlights

Low birth weight (LBW) in newborn babies is defined as a birth weight of less than 2500 grams (< 5.5 lbs).[1]
A higher prevalence of Low Birth Weight (LBW) was observed among the children whose mothers did not have any formal education (26.4%), were underweight (25.1%) and did not receive any antenatal care service during pregnancy (25.1%)
Factors associated with LBW: We found a significant positive association of LBW with (i) sex of the newborn (χ2 = 17.41, p = 0.003); (ii) division (χ2 = 41.98, p ≤ 0.001); (iii) maternal education (χ2 = 27.92, p ≤ 0.001); (iv) maternal weight status (χ2 = 30.23, p ≤ 0.001); (v) fathers’ occupational status (χ2 = 13.87, p = 0.045); and (vi) maternal antenatal care visits during pregnancy (χ2 = 23.15, p ≤ 0.001)

Summary

Introduction

Low birth weight (LBW) in newborn babies is defined as a birth weight of less than 2500 grams (< 5.5 lbs).[1]. About 95.6% of the total number of LBW births occur in low- and middle-income countries.[9,10] Research shows that the rate of LBW is double in South Asia regions compared to the global percentage.[10] According to a most recent study prevalence of LBW was reported 14.5% among Bangladeshi newborns.[3]. The association remained significant after adjusting the analysis with the sex of the newborn, administrative regions (division), maternal educational status, mother’s weight status and fathers’ occupation [AOR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.550.99]. The sex of the newborn, division, maternal education, maternal weight status, and fathers’ occupational status were found to be significantly associated with LBW.

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Results