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Volume 6 Issue 3 (March, 2018)

Original Articles

Correlation of Birth Weight with Various Demographic Parameters
Mandeep Kaur

Introduction: Birth weight in particular is strongly associated with foetal, neonatal and post-neonatal mortality and with infant and child morbidity. LBW babies who survive the critical neonatal period may suffer impaired physical and mental growth. The determinants of foetal growth have been the subject of considerable research and these differ considerably from the aetiological determinants of gestational duration. Methods: One hundred fifty newborns examined within 48 hours of their birth in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology/ Pediatrics at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot. They were weighed naked on electronic weighing scale to the nearest of 5 grams. Gestational age was calculated as total duration of pregnancy in weeks from first date of the last normal menstrual period (LMP) to the time of delivery. Results: risk of low birth weight decreases with increasing age of mother but further increases after the age of 30 years. As the gestational age of mother increases the risk of low birth weight of newborns decreases, but after 39 completed weeks there is slight increase in risk of low birth weight. Conclusion: Advancing maternal age is associated with a decreased potential for fetal growth, possibly reflecting biological aging of maternal tissues and systems or the cumulative effects of disease. Results of multivariate analysis showed a U-shaped relationship between maternal age and LBW Keywords: Low birth weight, Gestational age, Socioeconomic status

 
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