Maternal Risk Factors of Low Birth Weight at Maharat Nakornratchasima Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To identify maternal risk factors associated with Low Birth Weight Infant (LBW)

Materials & methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive case-control study.  Six hundred and thirty three mothers who delivered single alive baby between 1 May and 31 August 2010 at the Obstetrics-Gynecology Unit, Maharat Nakornratchasima hospital were enrolled. The studied group was divided into 268 mothers who delivered newborn with birth weight equal to or less than 2,500 grams. The controlled group comprised of 268 mothers who delivered normal birth weight newborn. The univariate analysis was done.  The factors which had statistic significant were included into multiple logistic regression model in order to evaluate the significance factors related with LBW (p value         < 0.05).

Results : The significant factors that associated with LBW  were family’s monthly income ≤10,000 Bath (p<0.05, 95 % CI 2.86-7.81), hard work intensity (p<0.05, 95 % CI 1.02-3.85), sleep 6-8 hours/day (p<0.05, 95 % CI 2.82-6.93 ), coitus in the last 3 months (p<0.05, 95 % CI 1.42-3.50) and delivery interval <2 years (p<0.05, 95 % CI 1.42-3.56 ). The protective factor is total weight gain more than 11 kilograms.

Conclusion : The mother who have history of low family’s monthly income, hard work intensity, sleep 6-8 hours/day, had coitus in the last 3 months and short delivery interval ≤2 years had the significant risk factors for LBW. The preventive factors was the appropriate total weight gain.