Birthweight predictive factors of the children of adolescent mothers

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to identify the predictive factors of birthweight in newborns of adolescent pregnant women. This is a cross-sectional, cross-sectional study with a sample composed of 751 adolescent postpartum women, aged 10 years or more and 20 years or less, developed in a public maternity hospital in Rio de Janeiro. The variables evaluated were anthropometric, sociodemographic, obstetric, maternal and prenatal care, and conditions at conception. Different linear regression models were tested by the stepwise method to identify predictors of birthweight. The mean maternal age was 17 years (±1.60). The predictive variables of birth weight, identified in the bivariate analysis were: maternal age; number of family members; family income per capita, number of births; number of prenatal consultations and consultations with the nutritionist in prenatal care; pre-gestational BMI; total weight gain; weight gain in the second and third trimesters, and gestational age at delivery. Among the predictive variables of birthweight were gestational age at delivery (β= 92.54, p= 0.001), number of consultations with the nutritionist in the prenatal period (β= 53.84, p= 0.001), weight gain in the second (β= 32.07, p= 0.003) and in the third (β= 26.70, p= 0.007) trimesters of gestation, pre-gestational BMI (β= 19.10, p= 0.017), and, negatively, the number of people in the family (β= -32.90, p= 0.033). Efforts should be made to ensure that childbirth is at term, follow-ups with the nutritionist should be regular, aiming at monitoring gestational weight gain, and greater attention should be paid to pregnant women with adverse sociodemographic conditions, implementing strategies to improve the birth weight of newborns of adolescent pregnant women.