Maternal Factors Associated With the Birth Weight of the Babies in a Rural Area of North Karnataka: A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: Birth weight is a reliable indicator of intrauterine growth and is one of the major factors that determine child survival and its physical and mental development. There is no indicator in human biology which tells us so much about the past events and the future life, as the weight of an infant at birth. Low birth weight (LBW) is still a major public health problem in developing countries and majority of it is seen in Africa and Asia. The prevalence of LBW in India has although reduced over the past decade, but it still remains high in some of the states of the country. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of Low birth weight and to study the maternal factors associated with it. Method: A Cross-sectional study was conducted in a village of north Karnataka from December 2015 to May 2017. Sample size calculated was 337. The study participants comprised of postnatal mothers with singleton live born baby. Weight of the newborn was recorded. Chi square test was used to find the association. Results: The prevalence of LBW was found to be 21.1%. A number of factors such as mother’s age, height, number of hours of rest, tobacco consumption, passive smoking, gravidity, parity, previous history of LBW, time of antenatal care (ANC) registration, haemoglobin, bad obstetric history, type of delivery and gestational age at delivery were found to be significantly associated with LBW. Conclusion: Adverse pregnancy outcome is the result of a multiple factors. Prevalence of LBW can be reduced by regular ANC, balanced diet and adequate rest during antenatal period, and avoiding tobacco consumption. Thus, it calls for overall improvement in the ANC.