Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Mar 18;14(3):e0212817.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212817. eCollection 2019.

Maternal anemia and birth weight: A prospective cohort study

Ana Claudia Morais Godoy Figueiredo  1 , Isaac Suzart Gomes-Filho  2 , Josicélia Estrela Tuy Batista  3 , Géssica Santana Orrico  3 , Edla Carvalho Lima Porto  2 , Rodolfo Macedo Cruz Pimenta  2 , Sarah Dos Santos Conceição  2 , Sheila Monteiro Brito  3 , Michelle de Santana Xavier Ramos  3 , Maria Cristina Ferreira Sena  1 , Saulo Wesley Silva Lessa Vilasboas  3 , Simone Seixas da Cruz  3 , Mauricio Gomes Pereira  1
Affiliations

Maternal anemia and birth weight: A prospective cohort study

Ana Claudia Morais Godoy Figueiredo et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between maternal anemia and low/insufficient birth weight.

Design: A prospective cohort study of pregnant women who underwent prenatal care at the healthcare units in a municipality of northeast Brazil together with their newborn infants was carried out. The pregnant women were classified as having anemia when the hemoglobin level was below 11 g/dl. Infants who were born full term weighing less than 2500 grams were classified as low birth weight, and those weighing between 2500 and 2999 grams were classified as insufficient weight. The occurrence of maternal anemia and its association with birth weight was verified using crude and adjusted Relative Risk (RR) estimates with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs).

Results: The final sample was comprised of 622 women. Maternal anemia was considered a risk factor for low/insufficient birth weight, after adjusting the effect measurement for maternal age, family income, urinary infection, parity, alcoholic beverage consumption during pregnancy and gestational body mass index: RRadjusted = 1.38 [95% CI: 1.07 to 1.77].

Conclusions: Maternal anemia was associated with low/insufficient birth weight, representing a risk factor for the gestational outcomes studied.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flowchart of the sample participant selection process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Kramer MS. Determinants of low birth weight: methodological assessment and meta-analysis. Bull World Health Organ. 1987;65(5):663–737. - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Meeting of Advisory Group on Maternal Nutrition and Low Birthweight Genebra: WHO; 2002 Internet: http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/lbw_strategy_background.pdf (accessed 23 august 2017).
    1. Moraes IB. Risk factors for underweight at birth. Campinas, São Paulo: Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2001.
    1. UNICEF. Low Birthweight: Country,regional and global estimates. New York: UNICEF; 2004.
    1. Raisanen S, Kancherla V, Gissler M, Kramer MR, Heinonen S. Adverse perinatal outcomes associated with moderate or severe maternal anaemia based on parity in Finland during 2006–10. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2014;28(5):372–80. 10.1111/ppe.12134 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types