Relationship of hemoglobin, gestational age, intergestational interval, and body mass index with low birth weight

Authors

  • Viviana Alejandra Beltrán Culqui
  • Daniela Abigail Cobo Álvarez
  • Blanca Cristina Estrella López

Keywords:

Low birth weight, Hemoglobin, Gestational age, Intergestational interval, Pregestational BMI

Abstract

Introduction: Identifying maternal factors that may be related to low birth weight is important to develop prevention strategies and improve neonatal health outcomes.

Objective: The aim of the study was to identify whether hemoglobin, gestational age, intergestational interval and pregestational BMI are related to low birth weight.

Methods: The study corresponded to the relational level and adopted a case-control design. It was observational, retrospective, cross-sectional and analytical. The study population consisted of 274 pregnant patients who were attended during the year 2022 at the Hospital General Docente Ambato, in Ecuador. The parametric Student's t-test for independent samples was used.

Results: The results showed that the four associated variables were related to the variable of Low Birth Weight supervision. 35.4 % (N=97) of pregnant women had anemia; 36.9% (N=101) of pregnant women had short Gestational Age (less than 37 weeks of pregnancy); 32.5 % (N=89) of pregnant women had short Intergestational Interval (less than 32 weeks between the birth of one child and the start of the next pregnancy); and 61.3 % (N=168) of pregnant women had inadequate Pregestational BMI.

Conclusions: The investigator's hypothesis that there are significant differences in the means of Maternal Hemoglobin, Gestational Age, Intergestational Interval and Pregestational BMI between the Low Birth Weight and Non-Low Birth Weight groups was met.

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Published

2023-09-01

How to Cite

1.
Beltrán Culqui VA, Cobo Álvarez DA, Estrella López BC. Relationship of hemoglobin, gestational age, intergestational interval, and body mass index with low birth weight. Rev Cubana Inv Bioméd [Internet]. 2023 Sep. 1 [cited 2025 Jul. 17];42(2). Available from: https://revibiomedica.sld.cu/index.php/ibi/article/view/2997