Study of maternal risk factors for low birth weight neonates: a case-control study

Abstract

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is an important indicator of reproductive health and general health status of population. Weight at birth is directly influenced by general level of health status of the mother. The maternal risk factors are biologically and socially interrelated; most are, however, modifiable, which vary from one area to another, depending on geographic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors. Objectives: This study was undertaken to evaluate maternal risk factors associated with LBW neonates. Materials and Methods: A case–control study was conducted in a tertiary care government hospital in Solapur, Maharashtra. A total of 220 cases (vaginal delivery or cesarean delivery) and 220 controls who delivered a live-born singleton baby without congenital malformation enrolled within 1 day of delivery. Mothers who had multiple births were excluded. All babies were weighed within 24 h after the birth. The information was gathered from the maternal health records and interviewing the mothers of these infants. Results: The mean age of mothers in case group was 22.6 years and that of controls was 23.92 years. Mean weight gain during pregnancy of mothers in case group was 4.2 kg and that of controls was 5.9 kg. Mean weight of the newborn of cases and controls was 1664.97 and 2548.35 g, respectively. Spacing