FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH BIRTH WEIGHTS AMONG INFANTS

Abstract

Introduction: Birth weight is the single most important factor which determines infant morbidity and mortality. Birth weight of the newborn is believed to be influenced by several factors. Therefore, it is important to understand the possible factors that influence birth weight.

Methodology: The respondents were 230 postnatal mothers who participated in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was used for interviewing the postnatal mothers. One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Chi-square tests and the independent t-test were used. Statistically significant data were those that had a p- value < 0.05.

Results: The mean birth weight was 3080.02±400.61g. The incidence of low birth weight (LBW) was 12.6%. By using One-Way ANOVA test, the factors that were found to be significantly associated with birth weight (p<0.05) were maternal age, family size, antenatal booking, parity and gestational age at delivery.

Conclusion: Several factors were found to significantly influence birth weight of infants in this sample. Improved quality of antenatal care can reduce health complications with subsequent improvement in birth weight.