Association of Maternal Risk Factors with Birth Weight of Newborn in a Tertiary Level Hospital in Dhaka City

Background: Lowbirthweight(LBW)contributes substantially to neonatal, infant, and childhood mortality and morbidity. Several maternal factors contribute to the incidence of LBW, majority of which are biologically and socially interrelated, are modifiable; making LBW a potentially preventable condition. Objective: To evaluate the association of maternal risk factors with birth weight of newborn. Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in Mugda medical college, Dhaka, a government health center of Bangladesh, from January 2019 to 30 June 2019. A total of 180 recently delivered pregnant mother were included in this study and categorized into two groups: Group A- 90 mother who had given birth of low birth weight baby, and Group B- another 90 mother who delivered normal birth weight baby.Face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire and a review of medical records were carried out. Statistical analyses of the results were obtained by using window-based computer software devised with SPSS version 23. Results: Highest percentage of patients from both group A and B were belonged to 20 - 34 years of age (62.2% and 81.1% respectively) and para £3 (76.7% and 88.8% respectively) with significant odds ratio for delivering low birth weight baby at advanced maternal age (³35 years) (OR=2.14, p value 0.037) and high parity (para >3) (OR=2.44, p value 0.03).Majority mothers from group A had hypertension (58.9%) whereas 90% mothers from group B were normotensive with significant odds ratio (OR= 12.89, p value <0.001) as risk factor for predicting low birth weight baby. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that gestational hypertension was the most powerful independent risk factor (OR= 12.72, p value <0.001) for delivering LBW baby compared to age ³35 years (OR= 0.757, p value .717) and parity >3 (OR= 2.66, p value 0.257). Conclusion: Gestational hypertension, advanced maternal age and high parity are the significant risk factors for delivering LBW baby. However, further larger multicenter study is recommended. Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2021; 47(1): 50-56