Abstract

PIP: At the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India, health workers took anthropometric measurements and hemoglobin level of 196 pregnant women at gestation of 37-41 weeks and of their singleton newborns to detect a combination of maternal nutritional and uterine parameters which could be used to screen mothers at high risk of delivering a low birth weight (LBW) infant ( 2500 g). The maternal anthropometric measurements included pre- and post-delivery weight, height, head and midarm circumference, fundal height, and abdominal girth. Weight, height, head and midarm circumference, and hemoglobin were significantly correlated with birth weight. Pre-delivery weight was better correlated than post-delivery weight with birth weight (r value = 0.4966 vs. 0.3494). The correlation between pre-delivery weight and birth weight remained, even when hemoglobin and one of the uterine parameters were controlled simultaneously. Hemoglobin was an independent significant predictor of birth weight, when all other variables were controlled simultaneously. Both fundal height and abdominal girth were significantly associated with birth weight, when all other variables were controlled simultaneously. Fundal height had a greater difference in means of birth weight than did abdominal girth (960 vs. 871 g). If the fundal height was less than 25 cm, all infants had a LBW. If the fundal height was greater than 35 cm, only one infant had a LBW. The multiple regression equation using pre-delivery weight, hemoglobin, fundal height, and abdominal girth (all independent significant parameters) to estimate birth weight accounted for 70.5% variation. Researchers tested the equation on 118 consecutive full-term singleton newborns. The equation predicted LBW in 32 of the 36 actual LBW deliveries. The estimated birth weights in the 4 actual but missed cases were 2620, 2600, 2566, and 2826 g. This equation can be successfully used to screen pregnant women for LBW.