Publication:

Factors associated with low birth weight among deliveries at a tertiary healthcare hospital in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh

Background Low birth weight (LBW) is an important factor of infant morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Approximately 20.5 million new-borns, i.e., an estimated 15% of all babies are born with LBW globally. Various factors such as maternal age, education, parity, gestation period, nutritional status and socioeconomic status influence the of birth weight of baby. Objectives of the study to find out the prevalence of LBW babies and their determinants.

Methods This was a hospital based cross-sectional study. The data has been taken from the period of 1st January 2019 to 15th February 2020.

Results 223 mothers and their newborn babies were included in the study. The 55 infants (24.6 %) were LBW (<2500 g) babies. From binary logistic regression analyses of each variable with LBW; gender {0.430 (0.230-0.804), p=0.007}, religion OR={3.477 (1.178-10.264), p=0.018}, education of mother OR={2.051 (1.009- 4.170), p=0.044}, occupation of father OR={1.991 (1.008-3.933), p=0.045}, mode of delivery OR={1.880 (1.004-3.519), p=0.047} and duration of pregnancy OR={6.286 (2.895-13.648), p<0.001} were found to have significant association.

Conclusions The study assessed the variables of LBW in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. The study showed that teenage mothers are at a higher risk of having a low-birth-weight baby. It is important to strengthen health education, capacity building, spreading awareness for marriage after twenty along with diagnosing and treating any type of medical or gynaecological conditions resulting premature babies.