Effect of nutritional status of pregnant women on outcome of pregnancy

A sample of 60 pregnant women was purposively selected in their IIIrd trimester from Parbhani city. All the selected pregnant women were personally interviewed by investigator with the help of pre- planned questionnaire, so as to elicit the information regarding socio-economic status, age, type of family and dietary pattern. Information about the associated factors with pregnancy like age at first delivery, parity, interval between two pregnancies, type of delivery, BMI and complications during pregnancy was also collected. Nutritional status was assessed by taking anthropometric measurements such as weight and height. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from the recorded measurements of body weight (kg) and height (cm) of the subjects. Haemoglobin content of subjects was recorded from the pathological reports. The weight and length of the new born were recorded in clinic with the help of beam type of scale and length was recorded with the help of infantometer. The food intake of selected pregnant women was assessed by one day weighment method. The weight of the raw edible food stuffs used to prepare food for the family and the corresponding cooked weights of the prepared foods were recorded for each meal in a prepared schedule. The average food and nutrient intake of pregnant women per day was compared with recommended dietary allowances of ICMR (2010) and expressed in terms of per cent value of RDA. Simple arithmetic means of percentages were calculated with standard deviation to interpret the results. Nutrient intake of the pregnant women was compared with RDA by using ‘Z' test. Correlation co-efficient was calculated for haemoglobin level, parity, body mass index, educational level, weight and length of newborn. The nutrient intake of selected pregnant women when statistically compared with RDA indicated that there was significant difference in the studied nutrients except for thiamine, riboflavin and vitamin C. The intake of energy, protein, calcium, iron, b carotene, niacin and folic acid were significantly less than RDAs while the intake of fat was significantly more than RDAs. Parity of the mother was not having correlation with the weight and length of the newborn. As the haemoglobin level was increasing the weight and length of the newborn was also increasing. Positive correlation was found with increasing haemoglobin level with the weight and length of newborn. There was no correlation with BMI, weight and length of newborn. As the education level was increasing the weight and length of newborn was also increasing but it was found that there is no significant difference.