Abstract:
Objective of this analytical prospective study was to determine the co-relation between
maternal BMI at booking visit and the weight of newborn and to analyze any possible corelation of maternal age, parity, educational status, family income, ethnicity, religion and
gender of newborn with birth weight. The study was conducted at De Soysa Hospital for
Women, Colombo 8, for women who attend antenatal clinic of ward 16. Pregnant women
registering at the clinic between 1oth week and 15 weeks + 6 days of period of amenorrhoea
who satisfied the exclusion criteria were followed up to their delivery between 37 weeks and
41 weeks + 6 days of period of amenorrhoea till the sample size was reached. The subject
were followed up to their delivery. Additional information was collected from the bed head
ticket and from a questionnaire. Data was interpreted by linear regresion stepwise analysis.
BMI had a significant co-relation with the weight of the newborn (R=0.447, R squared
=0.200, p0.01). After eliminating confounding variables in the model, results showed that a
significant co-relation existed between weight of the newborn and maternal age (R=0,148,
p.01). After eliminating confounding variables in the model, results showed that a
significant co-relation existed between weight of the newborn and maternal age (R=0,1438,
p.01), parity (R=0.285, p<0.01) and family income (R=0.238, p<0.01).
