Evaluating Association of Maternal Nutritional Status With Neonatal Birth Weight in Term Pregnancies: A Cross-Sectional Study With Unexpected Outcomes

Abstract

IntroductionBirth weight is described as the primary determinant of the chances of survival among newborns. Low birth weight (LBW) is considered to be a major public health issue, especially among developing countries where poor maternal nutritional status is identified as a cause of both long and short-term adverse consequences. In developing countries, the majority of the LBW infants are born at term but are affected by intrauterine growth restriction, which might have begun early in the pregnancy period. We conducted this study in order to determine the possible effects of the poor nutritional status of mothers on the birth weight of their newborns. However, in disparity to the previous literature, our study evaluated unpredictable results. MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study that was conducted at two tertiary care teaching hospitals from November 2020 to April 2021 in order to determine the possible effects of the poor nutritional status of mothers on the birth weight of their newborns. 156 women both primigravida and multigravida of ages between 15 and 50 years and those who delivered low birth weight (LBW) babies of either gender at term (37-40 weeks of gestation) were included. For all mothers who delivered LBW (<2500 g) at term, their mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) was measured by inelastic tape. Mothers with MUAC less than 21 cm were considered malnourished. ResultsA total of 156 study participants were included in the study, with majority (n=112, %=71.8%) of them between the ages of 20 and 30 years. The mean age of all included participants was calculated to be 25.96±4.54 years (ranging from 18 to 38 years). Prevalence of maternal malnutrition was observed in 41 (26.3%) of the included women who delivered LBW babies, in contrast to high prevalence rates in previous literature. ConclusionsIn contrast to the previous literature, our study has shown that the nutritional status of mothers has no significant impact on the weight of neonates and the majority of neonates in our study were not severely low weight

Maternal Mid-Upper Arm Circumference as a Screening Tool to Predict Infant Birth Weight

“…Similarly, several studies have demonstrated a significant relationship between the two variables, corroborating the results of this study (Rani et al 2017, Puspitaningrum 2018, Siyoum & Melese 2019. In contrast, a study conducted by Sangi et al (2021) revealed that there was no statistically significant relationship between maternal MUAC and infant birth weight (p=0.145). However, there was a moderate correlation (R=0.117) observed between the variables.…”

“…They gave birth to babies with a birth weight within the normal range instead. In a recent study conducted by Sangi et al (2021), it was found that only 26.3% of infants born to mothers with nutritional problems had a low birth weight. However, there is an opposing notion suggesting a correlation between maternal MUAC and infant birth weight.…”

“…The correlation coefficient (Rs) was calculated to determine the strength of the relationship between variables. A higher R-value indicated a stronger correlation, while a lower R-value indicated a weaker correlation (0≤R≤1) (Sangi et al 2021, Barcelona Field Studies Centre 2024.…”

Distributions and Determinants of Neonatal Mortality in Rembang Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia

“…Maternal factors related to neonatal death were caused by underlying diseases contributing to pregnancy complications (Ndayisenga, 2016). Mothers with chronic diseases such as kidney disease, hypertension and diabetes have high-risk morbidity and mortality during labor (Grandi et al, 2015;Huang et al, 2022;Nuccio & Chonchol, 2016). The most life-threatening experience is ante or post-postpartum hemorrhage, which is significantly related to neonatal or maternal death (Hough et al, 2021).…”

Association between food environments and fetal growth in pregnant Brazilian women

“…The gain of excessive gestational weight and the presence of metabolic comorbidities is one of the maternal factors associated with the birth of LGA babies, while insufficient gestational weight gain is associated with the birth of SGA babies 9,10 . Birth weight is described as the main determinant of the chances of newborns' survival, and has been significantly associated with various factors, such as the mother's level of education, the number of prenatal appointments, ethnicity/race, and maternal weight during pregnancy 11,12 , including food deserts 13 is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in (which was not certified by peer review)…”