Development of Weight Gain Chart for Pregnant Southern Sudanese Mothers in Juba City, University of Bahri - Khartoum, Sudan

Assessment of pregnant mothers using weight gain chart is rare in Sudan. The aims of the study were to design a new reference weight gain chart of pregnant women using the body mass index and weeks of gestation, to compare to Mardones and Roso chart. Study design it is a cross-sectional and longitudinal health facility- based study, carried out in Juba city. The participants were Sudanese pregnant mothers who belong to the local tribes, during their second or third trimester. Methods anthropometric measurements (height, weight) were used. Result The new reference weight gain chart based on BMI and week of gestation showed that the upper limit below the proposed Rosso and Mardones considered as normal curve for the studied groups. Nevertheless the chart shows an obvious increase in weight gain according to the two successive measurements of mothers body mass index. We concluded that the optimal BMI suited the southern Sudanese mothers found to be 23.373.52 relative to the best outcome during second trimester and 23.553.59kg/m2 during third trimester. However the designed chart might be suitable and good predictable for weight gain during pregnancy and consequently pregnancy outcome