Analysis of Low Birth Weight of Newly Born Babies in Sunyani Municipality

Birth weight is one of the key indicators of the health and viability of the newborn infant and a persons personality. It is desired that birth weight should be in the range of 2.5kg and 4.0kg. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Low Birth Weight is as defined weight at birth less than 2.5kg. Low birth weight is major determinant of morbidity, mortality and disability in infancy and childhood. This is a very important indicator of a persons health status, but little information known is about its causes and effects among mothers in Ghana. This is also risk factors for long-term impact on health outcomes in adult life. A study on some selected social and maternal factors pertaining to Low Birth Weight was conducted in Sunyani Municipal Hospital, Ghana. Records of 100 live births in a period of one year (16th January, 2016 to 29th December, 2016) were ana- lyzed. This paper deploys singular value decomposition and multiple linear regression to identify the significant factors influencing the weight of the Low birth weight babies. The results obtained showed that all the selected maternal factors are the factors causing Low Birth Weight with mothers haemoglobin concentration level being the most significant in all cases. We also conclude that pregnant women should take in additional nutritional food to increase haemoglobin concentration to avoid Low Birth Weight.