BIRTH WEIGHT

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the birth weight in infants born to diabetic mothersand to compare it with those born to nondiabetic mothers. Study Design: Descriptive crosssectional study. Setting: Gynae and obstetrics unit Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar inassociation with Anatomy Department Khyber Girls Medical College Peshawar. Period: January2015 to June 2015. Material and Methods: This study was carried out on babies born todiabetic as well as non-diabetic healthy mothers. A total number of 100 diabetic mothers and100 nondiabetic healthy mothers were selected for this study. After delivery, the weight andsex of the babies born to diabetic as well as nondiabetic mothers along with the motherfs agewere noted on an observation sheet. The studentfs t test was applied for all quantitative data.A p-value of . 0.05 was taken significant. Results: The mean birth weight of female babiesborn to diabetic mothers was significantly greater than babies of nondiabetic mothers (p=0.05). No significant difference (p=0.11) was noted when the birth weight of all babies bornto diabetic mothers was compared to all babies born to nondiabetic mothers. No significantdifference (p= 0.51) was noted in babies belonging to younger nondiabetic and diabeticmothers but a significant difference (p=0.01) was noted when birth weight of babies from oldernondiabetic mothers was compared with birth weight of babies from older diabetic mothers.Conclusion: The birth weight of female babies born to diabetic mothers was significantly moreas compared to babies born to nondiabetic mothers. A significant difference was also notedwhen birth weight of babies from older diabetic mothers was compared with the babies of oldernondiabetic mothers. This larger weight of babies may be due to maternal diabetes which mayaffect the normal development of fetus leading to an increased morbidity and mortality in babiesas well as mothers.