Risk of Low Birth Weight Infants Born High Haemoglobin Mothers

Abstract

Risk of Low Birth Weight Infants Born High Haemoglobin Mothers*

Pongsak        Noipayak       MD**

* This work was supported by The Vajira Research Fund (annual research fund 2001)

** Department of Pediatrics, BMA Medical College and Vajira Hospital

Objective: To study risks of low birth weight infants (LBW) born to high hemoglobin mothers.

Study design: Case-control study.

Subjects: Two hundred and seventy five newborn infants admitted to The Department of Pediatrics, BMA Medical College and Vajira Hospital from January to December 1998.

Methods: Simple random sampling was conducted to recruit 55 low birth weight infants.  Normal birth weight infants, 220 cases for controls, were matched by sex gestational age at first visit and month of delivering.  Risks of infants born to high hemoglobin at first visit were determined by Mantel-Haenzel test and logistic regression.

Main outcome measures: Odds rations ratios of low birth weight infants born to high haemoglobin mothers.

Results: Out of 275 subjects, 55 were LBW and 220 controls.  There was difference of maternal hemoglobin at first visit between two groups statistically significant (p0.05).  Means of hemoglobin were 12.1  0.2 g/dl and 11.6   0.1 g/dl in groups of LBW and control, respectively.  A group of mother whose haemoglobin at first visit > 12.5 g/dl was the highest risk of giving low birth weight infants with an odds ratio of 2.75 (p