Prevalence and determinants of "low birth weight" among institutional deliveries

Background: Birth weight is an important determinant of child survival and development. It is also a subject of clinical and epidemiological investigations. This study was planned to find out the epidemiological factors associated with low birth weight (LBW) among institutional deliveries so that suitable recommendation can be made to prevent LBW. Objectives: The present study was therefore undertaken to find out some maternal factors that may have their association, if any with LBW. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at tertiary care hospital among 350 mothers delivering live born neonate in study place. All babies were weighed within 24 hours after the birth. The babies were weighed on beam type weighing machine up to 20 g accuracy. LBW was defined as a birth weight of <2500 gram. All mothers were examined and interviewed within 24 hours after delivery and findings were recorded. The analysis was done using Epi Info package. Results : In this study, 40.0% mothers delivered LBW babies. Findings indicate that gestational age less than 37 weeks (76.5%), maternal age less than 20 years (58.5%), irregular antenatal checkup (70.5%), mother′s height less than 150 cm (68.5%), mother′s weight less than 50 kg (76.1%), hemoglobin less than 10 gm/dl (60.5%), severe physical work (78%), and tobacco chewing (58.5%) are significant determinants of LBW. Conclusion: Our study indicates that gestational age, maternal age, regular antenatal checkup, mother′s height, mother′s weight, anemia, physical work, and tobacco chewing are significant determinants of LBW. Prevalence of LBW can be reduced by increasing the gestational age, regular antenatal checkup, balanced diet during antenatal period, adequate rest during antenatal period, and avoiding the tobacco chewing.