Incidence and Factors Related to the Low Birth Weight Newborns in Ramathibodi Hospital

Abstract

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to investigate the incidence and related factors of the low birth weight newborns in Ramathibodi Hospital. The research participants consisted of 725 mothers who had newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams, from January 2014 to June 2016. The research instrument was an information record  form that is applied from the concept risk factors of low birth weight. The World Health Organization form was divided into 3 sections: personal data, health data, and complications during pregnancy data. The data were collected from medical and labour records. The data were analyzed using descriptive and chi-square statistics. The result of this study found that the incidence of low birth weight among newborns were 10.88%, 13.09% and 15.02%, from January 2014 to June 2016, respectively. The data showed a preterm low birth weight of 65.50% and term low birth weight of 34.50%. Term low birth weight accounted for one third of all low birth weight newborns. Statistically significant factors correlated with preterm and term low birth weight were total weight gain (p=.001), preterm birth history (p=.028), number of fetuses (p=.019), pregnancy induced hypertension (p=.000) and antepartum hemorrhage (p=.036). The results of the study suggest that nurses should develop proactive antenatal care to prevent the occurrence of low birth weight newborns. Moreover, health education of the risk factors for LBW should be provided to pregnant women in order that the awareness upon warning signs will be enhanced. Especially, for the term low birth weight, nurses should be able to assess, prevent and solve problem from early pregnancy.