One third of the Indian babies are of low birth weight (<2.5 kg), and this is attributed to maternal undernutrition. We therefore examined the relationship between maternal nutrition and birth size in a prospective study of 797 rural Indian women, focusing on macronutrient intakes, dietary quality and micronutrient status. Maternal intakes (24-h recall and food frequency questionnaire) and erythrocyte folate, serum ferritin and vitamin C concentrations were measured at 18 +/- 2 and 28 +/- 2 wk gestation. Mothers were short (151.9 +/- 5.1 cm) and underweight (41.7 +/- 5.1 kg) and had low energy and protein intakes at 18 wk (7.4 +/- 2.1 MJ and 45.4 +/- 14.1 g) and 28 wk (7.0 +/- 2.0 MJ and 43.5 +/- 13.5 g) of gestation. Mean birth weight and length of term babies were also low (2665 +/- 358 g and 47.8 +/- 2.0 cm, respectively). Energy and protein intakes were not associated with birth size, but higher fat intake at wk 18 was associated with neonatal length (P < 0.001), birth weight (P < 0.05) and triceps skinfold thickness (P < 0.05) when adjusted for sex, parity and gestation. However, birth size was strongly associated with the consumption of milk at wk 18 (P < 0.05) and of green leafy vegetables (P < 0.001) and fruits (P < 0.01) at wk 28 of gestation even after adjustment for potentially confounding variables. Erythrocyte folate at 28 wk gestation was positively associated with birth weight (P < 0.001). The lack of association between size at birth and maternal energy and protein intake but strong associations with folate status and with intakes of foods rich in micronutrients suggest that micronutrients may be important limiting factors for fetal growth in this undernourished community.

Objective: To describe the relationship of the mother's physical activity to the birth size of her baby in a rural Indian population. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Six villages near Pune, Maharashtra, India. Subjects: A total of 797 women were studied after excluding abortions and termination of pregnancies (112), foetal anomalies (8), multiple pregnancies (3), incomplete pre-pregnancy anthropometry (14) and pregnancies detected later than 21 weeks of gestation (168). Method: An activity questionnaire was developed after focus group discussions and incorporated community-specific activities. It was validated against an observer-maintained diary. Activity scores were derived using published data on energy costs to weight the contributions of various activities. It was then administered to assess physical activity at 18 ( AE 2) and 28 ( AE 2) weeks of gestation. Outcome measures: Birth outcome, maternal weight gain and neonatal anthropometry. Results: The activity questionnaire was used to classify women into light, moderate and heavy activity categories. Maternal activity did not influence the incidence of prematurity or stillbirth, or the duration of gestation. It was inversely related to maternal weight gain up to 28 weeks of gestation (P ¼ 0.002). Higher maternal activity in early, as well as mid gestation, was associated with lower mean birth weight (P ¼ 0.05 and 0.02, respectively ), and smaller neonatal head circumference (P ¼ 0.005 and 0.009) and mid-arm circumference (P ¼ 0.03 and 0.01) after adjusting for the effect of major confounding factors. Conclusions: The Findings suggest that excessive maternal activity during pregnancy is associated with smaller foetal size in rural India, The approach described for developing an activity questionnaire has potential for adoption in other settings.

We found a high prevalence of PGP in Indian women during the first three months of postpartum period. Our finding suggests that unilateral posterior pelvic pain provocation test (P4), ASLR test score ≥4, caesarean section delivery and sitting in breast-feeding posture were associated with increased risk of PGP during postpartum.

We found high prevalence of PGP in women who had caesarean delivery than those who had a vaginal delivery. Our finding suggests that, during postpartum period, LBP before pregnancy, parity, ASLR test score ≥ 4, bilateral P4 test, and sitting position during breast-feeding were significantly associated with increased risk of PGP in both vaginal and caesarean modes of deliveries, but further studies are needed for definitive conclusions.