Survey of Birth Weight in Newborns among Mothers with and Without a Common Underlying Disease in Rafsanjan Niknafs Maternity in 2011-2012

Birth weight is the most important indicator of infant’s health and this critical index is directly related to mother''s health. Hence، knowledge of maternal diseases could be considered as an effective factor in maintaining infant ideal weight. Therefore، this study aimed to investigate the association between maternal diseases and birth weight. This descriptive study was conducted on Rafsanjan-Niknafs maternity in 2011-2012. The inclusion criteria were; being Iranian، live births، gestational age of 22 weeks and above and birth weight of >500 g. Data were collected by questionnaires and analyzed by statistical tests including; independent t-test، chi-square test، Fisher''s exact test، one-way ANOVA and multiple linear regression. In given sample، 4193 mothers were healthy (83. 6%) and 825 mothers had underlying diseases (16. 4%). The average and standard deviation of age in healthy and sick mothers were 27. 37 ± 5. 14 and 29. 99 ± 5. 59 years old، respectively (p<0. 001). There was a significant difference between mother’s diseases and birth weight، as infant weight gain of healthy mothers was 89 (2. 2%)، of diabetics 25 (5. 8%)، of the hypertensive 10 (4. 4%)، and of mothers who had more than one disease 4 (5. 8%) (p<0. 001). Given the high prevalence of weight disorders in Rafsanjan and the impact of mother’s diseases on this important health index، it is necessary to identify and provide special control care for mothers during pregnancy.