Comparative study of maternal socio-demographic factors and low birth weight of new-borns at a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India

Introduction: Birth weight is an important indicator of a child's vulnerability to the risk of childhood illness and chances of survival. LBW results in a corresponding perinatal mortality. The identification of factors contributing to LBW is therefore of paramount importance. Low birth weight is a term used to describe babies who are born weighing less than 2,500 grams (5 pounds, 8 ounces). In contrast, the average newborn weighs about 8 pounds. Over 8 percent of all new-born babies in the United States have low birth weight. The primary cause is premature birth, being born before 37 weeks gestation; a baby born early has less time in the mother's uterus to grow and gain weight, and much of a fetus's weight is gained during the latter part of the mother's pregnancy. Another cause of low birth weight is intrauterine growth restriction. This occurs when a baby does not grow well in utero because of problems with the placenta, the mother's health or birth defects. The aim of the study: To study the prevalence of low birth weight babies and to study the various socio-demographic factors associated with low birth weight. Materials and methods: The present cross-sectional study was undertaken at Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital in the year of 2015- 2016. Totally 100 babies were selected. In this study, all singleton new-born having a weight of <2.5kg was included as a case (n=50) and a weight of ≥2.5kg was included as a control (n=50). The relation of birth-weight to few maternal factors such as age, socio-economic status and occupation were studied. Results: Our Study showed that the greatest number of mothers having LBW newborns was in the age group of 23 to 27years belonged to the low socio-economic group. The study finding showed maternal age, fetal sex, parity, number of antenatal care, gestational age, birth order, and history of abortion had an insignificant association with low birth weight (P-value <0.05). It was found that 70% of LBW babies were born to mothers who belonged to the labour class by occupation. Conclusion: This study depicted that low birth weight is a public health problem in the study area. Hence, attention should be given to increase community awareness of antenatal care service, access to family planning, prevention of abortion and community mobilization to prevent early pregnancy. This study concluded with the findings that maternal factors like age, socio-economic status, religion and occupation of the mothers were related to LBW of the new-born improving the socio-economic status (SES) of people and providing better working.