Abstract
BackgroundLow birth weight is defined as infant born with weight of less than 2500 g. It is one of the major public health problems worldwide. In Ethiopia, there are limited evidences on factors contributing to low birthweight.ObjectiveTo assess factors associated with low birth weight babies in Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Ethiopia from March to April, 2018.Methods and MaterialsAn unmatched case control study was conducted at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. All low birth weight newborns and two unmatched controls for each case were included in the study from March to April, 2018. Data were collected through face to face interview using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The collected data were managed with Epi-data version 3.1 software and exported to the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22. Bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with low birth weight at p-value < 0.05 with their respective odds ratios and 95% confidence interval. Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to assess goodness-of-fit.ResultsIn this study 330 mother-newborn pairs (110 cases and 220 controls) were participated making 100% response rate. Among the participants 325(98.48%) were married, 164 (49.7%) were Protestant, 296 (89.7%) had ANC follow up and 212 (64.24%) were multipara. Mothers’ mid-upper arm circumference less than 220 mm [(AOR) =2.89, 95% CI: 1.58, 5.29)], lack of nutritional counseling [AOR = 2.37, 95%CI: 1.3, 4.34], presence of complications during pregnancy [AOR = 2.96, 95%CI: 1.55, 5.64)] and lack of iron supplementations during pregnancy [AOR = 2.89, 95%CI: 1.58, 5.29)] were significantly associated with Low birth weight.ConclusionsMothers’ mid-upper arm circumference less than 220 mm, lack of nutritional counseling, presence of complications and lack of iron supplementations during current pregnancy were significantly associated with low birth weight. Counseling on nutrition during prenatal care needs attention of service providers.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines low birth weight (LBW) as a birth weight of infant of 2499 gram or less regardless of gestational age [1]
Mothers’ mid-upper arm circumference less than 220 mm, lack of nutritional counseling, presence of complications and lack of iron supplementations during current pregnancy were significantly associated with low birth weight
This study showed that the odds of delivering low birth weight newborns among mothers who did not get nutritional counseling during Antenatal care (ANC) were two times higher than the odds of newborns born to women who received nutritional counseling
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines low birth weight (LBW) as a birth weight of infant of 2499 gram or less regardless of gestational age [1]. There is considerable variation in the prevalence of low birth weight across regions with estimates of LBW include 28% in south Asia, 13% in sub-Saharan Africa and 9% in Latin America [4]. In Ethiopia, different studies showed variable prevalence of low birth weight. Low birth weight is defined as infant born with weight of less than 2500 g. It is one of the major public health problems worldwide. In Ethiopia, there are limited evidences on factors contributing to low birthweight
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