Maternal Weight Gain Biosocial Characteristics And Perinatal Outcome In Jos Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: Maternal weight gain in pregnancy can offer a good means of assessing the well being of the pregnant mother and by inference, her baby. The cross – sectional prospective study was carried out carried out between November 1996 and December 1997, in Jos University Teaching hospital to assess the influence of biosocial characteristics on maternal weight gain and the effect of weight gain on perinatal outcome Methods: 210 informed healthy pregnant women average age 25.2± 5.1 (mean ± SD) were recruited form the antenatal clinic over a fourteen - month study period. Variables such as maternal age, parity, social class, booking weight gestational age were studied in relation to maternal weight gain and perinatal outcome. The student t- test was used to calculate significant difference between the mean and the level of significance was set at 5% Result: The mean maternal weight gain in pregnancy was 8.58± 3.61kg. The rate of weight gain was about 0.25kg per week between the gestational ages of 6 and 40 weeks. Young mothers gained more weight than older ones though the difference was not statistically significant. The primigravida statistically gained more weight than para 1-4 (P Conclusion The study has shown that parity and social class significantly affect maternal weight gain in pregnancy. Even though the mean weight gain in this study was 8.58 ± 3.61kg, this did not affect the fetal performance immediate after delivery.Further more, maternal weight changes in pregnancy can range from a loss to a gain of up to 23kg or more. Normal fetal outcome is possible throughout the range. KEYWORDS: weight gain biosocial factors, fetal outcome Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol.6(1) 2003: 5-9