The relationship between mother's age and newborn birth weight: a retrospective study

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study is to assess the impact of maternal age on neonatal birth weight. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the neonatal birth weight of singleton term infants born to nulliparous, non-diabetic, urban women who delivered at Shahid Sadoughi hospital in Yazd, Iran, between 2020 and 2021. Maternal age groups were defined as adolescents (≤19 years old) and adults (20-40 years old) using data from archived files. Results: A total of 963 cases were included in this study, with 217 adolescents and 746 adults. The incidence of low birth weight (LBW) (<2500 gr) was 10.6% (102 cases), and macrosomia (>4000 gr) was observed in 7.1% (68 cases) of the neonates. There was a significantly higher rate of neonatal LBW among adolescent mothers. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that maternal age has an impact on neonatal birth weight. The incidence of LBW is increased among adolescent mothers.