Ann Community Med Public Health | Volume 1, Issue 1 | Research Article | Open Access
Sivakamasundari Ratnam*
Department of Public Health, Institution of Training Ministry of Health, Sultan Azian Shah, Perak, Malaysia
*Correspondance to: Sivakamasundari Ratnam
Fulltext PDFBackground: Low birth weight (LBW), defined as birth weight less than 2,500 g, has a complex etiology and may be a result of premature interruption of pregnancy or intrauterine growth restriction. The objective of this study was to explore on maternal risk factors associated with delivering of term LBW infants among the mothers who had antenatal care at government health clinics in Ipoh. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Ipoh city, Perak state, Malaysia. The study population consisted of 2 groups are which case-control groups with 45 cases and 90 controls respectively. The case groups are mothers who delivered infants with weight of <2,500 g and control group are mothers who delivered infants with weight of ≥ 2500 g. The data of mothers who delivered between January 2017 to December 2017 were extracted from antenatal records of mothers who had registered in government health clinics in Ipoh with using stratified random sampling method. Data collection sheet was self-designed to document the particulars of the variables studied in this research. The variables collected include maternal sociodemographic characteristics, maternal obstetric risk factors and health risk behavior. Results: The total number of records eligible for the study was 3,357 from the 9 government clinics in Ipoh. There were 266 cases and 3,091 controls eligible for the study. Eventually, the selected as stipulated by sample calculation method as 45 cases and 90 controls. The two significant variables were associated with LBW were history of previous low birth weight infants (OR; 2.912, 95% CI; [1.106, 7.664], p<0.05) and the mother’s education level (OR; 4.649, 95% CI; [1.318, 16.398], p<0.05). Conclusion: The two predictors are modifiable which mothers’ education is and mother had history of delivering low birth weight infant. The previous history of low birth infant is multifactorial. Hence; to ascertain the actual cause more researches are needed to explore such as; what are actually be the causes which increases the risk to incur in the subsequent pregnancy, how to prevent and control that definite cause and what are strategies or best approaches. The education component need national policy to make sure all women empowered at least minimum secondary level of education.
Low birth weight; Maternal risk factors; WHO; 95% CI
Ratnam S. Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Term Low Birth Weight Infants: A Case-Control Study. Ann Community Med Public Health. 2021; 1(1): 1003..