A Prospective study on the effects & prevalence of maternal, fetal & placental risk factors on low birth weight neonates

Abstract

Background: Maternal, foetal and placental risk factors have a causative effect in the prematurity and failure to thrive in the early infantile period. Timely diagnosis helps in the anticipation of complications specific to risk factors and managing by impairing their harmful effects on the growth and development of the baby. Methods: The study was conducted prospectively from January 2018 to July 2018. Neonates (n=361) weighting less than 2.5 kilograms were observed for risk factors and maturity estimation by Dubowitz scoring. Results: Out of 1040 babies born from January to July 2018, 341 babies weight less than 2.5 kg. Out of which 162 (44.88%) babies were born preterm. Of the full term births 52% were low birth weightsThe risk factors of the neonates are not mutually exclusive. In the present study 28 maternal risk factors were studied. The prevalence of maternal, fetal and placental risk factors was 85.32%, 74.79% and 6.65% respectively. Discussion: India tops the list of 10 nations contributing around 60% of premature deliveries. Previous preterm delivery, periodontitis, oligohydramnios, gestational diabetes mellitus and maternal short stature were risk factors for pre-term birth, while periodontitis, gestational hypertension and genital infection during the later stages of pregnancy were the independent risk factors for low birth weight. Conclusion: Period prevalence of low birth weight babies and prematurity is 34.71% and 15.58% respectively. Risk factors are not independent to each other with maternal and foetal risk factors have almost have an effect on nearly three fourths of low birth weight neonates.