Association Of Maternal Age And Hemoglobin Level With Apgar Score Of Newborns In A Tertiary Care Hospital Of Suburbs Of Islamabad

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the association of Apgar score with maternal age and hemoglobin.
 Methods
 A cross-sectional study was conducted on mothers (n=306) delivering live, full-term, singleton babies by spontaneous vertex delivery. Women who suffered stillbirths had babies of unknown gestational age or showed co-morbidities were excluded.
 SPSS version 26 was used for data analysis. Mean + standard deviation, and percentages were calculated. Cross-tabulation and logistic regression were done to see the association between dependent and independent variables. A p-value of <0.05 was statistically significant.
 Results
 The ages of women ranged from 20 to 40 years (mean= 25+1.9). The number of patients aged 24 years with Hb <7g/dl was 6 (37.5%). Out of all, 90 (29.4%) patients had Hb >11g/dl, and their ages were 30 years which was significant (p = 0.000). Apgar score for the neonates showed that 258 (84.3%) had an Apgar score >7 while 48 (15.7%) had a score < 7. Babies of mothers whose age was 26 years had Apgar score < 7(25%) (p = 0.001). Neonatal birth weight, of <2kg was observed in infants born to young mothers of 26 years of age (20%) (p = 0.001), and a weight >3.5kg was recorded in 20 infants (6.5%). The younger mothers had lower Hb, and their babies had low Apgar scores <7 at the time of birth (p = 0.001).
 Conclusion
 Women of younger age and lower hemoglobin levels give birth to infants with low Apgar scores and birth weight. Low birth weight in neonates is significantly associated with a low five-minute Apgar score.