The Impact of Demographic and Delivery Factors on Low- and Normal-Weight Infants

 The birth weight is an essential indicator of a baby's health. The birth of infants with low birth weight (LBW) is one of the most significant health issues and one of the leading causes of infant mortality. The current study aimed to investigate the impact of demographic and delivery factors on low- and normal-weight infants.

 The current retrospective study collected data from all 2,731 babies born in Basra in 2022 and their mothers from electronic files. The data consists of demographic information and delivery factors. Babies were divided into two groups based on their weight: LBW (n=192) and normal (n=768). Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 19 and the chi-square, Fisher, Mann-Whitney, and logistic regression tests. The level of statistical significance was determined to be equal to 0.05.

 The results showed that the variable of intrauterine age less than 37 weeks increases the risk of having a baby with LBW by 1.84 times (0.95CI=0.52-3.12), age less than 20 years increases the risk by 1.76 times (0.95CI=0.83-2.64), BMI in the thin range increases the risk by 1.42 times (0.95CI=0.87-1.84), and anemia with hemoglobin less than 11 g/dl increases the risk by 1.34 times (0.95CI=0.76-1.86).

The results revealed that age, BMI, anemia, and intrauterine age impact birth weight. Therefore, controlling the risk factors mentioned above in mothers before becoming pregnant can reduce the number of LBW babies.