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
. 2025 May 6;44(1):146.
doi: 10.1186/s41043-025-00904-4.

The effect of antenatal care on low birth weight and neonatal mortality: protocol for umbrella review of meta-analysis

Fentahun Alemnew Chekole  1 , Azimeraw Arega Tesfu  2 , Fentahun Yenealem Beyene  2 , Wondu Feyisa Balcha  2
Affiliations

The effect of antenatal care on low birth weight and neonatal mortality: protocol for umbrella review of meta-analysis

Fentahun Alemnew Chekole et al. J Health Popul Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization defines low birth weight as a birth weight of less than 2500 g, regardless of the gestational age. It is regarded as the most significant predictor of infant mortality overall, particularly for deaths that occur in the first few months of life. Among all the months of a person's existence, the neonatal period, the first month of life, has one of the highest death rates. The necessity for an umbrella review is highlighted by the lack of a comprehensive synthesis of collective meta-analytic evidence connecting antenatal care as a factor of low birth weight and newborn death. Thus, this umbrella review's main goal is to thoroughly synthesize the existing meta-analytic evidence, with a focus on assessing the relationship between antenatal care with low birth weight and neonatal mortality.

Methods: All English-language meta-analyses of cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies that looked at the relationship between antenatal care with low birth weight and neonatal mortality will be included, regardless of the time and location of publication. To find pertinent literature for review, major medical electronic databases including Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane database, and PubMed will be used. Two reviewers will screen the eligible articles, extract data, and evaluate their quality independently. The reviewers will work together to reach a consensus on any disagreements. If there are still issues, a third reviewer will be consulted in order to fix them. The meta-umbrella R package will be used for all statistical analysis. The random-effects model and 95% prediction interval for the summary estimate will be used for both outcomes. Q and I2 test statistics will be calculated to determine the degree of heterogeneity. We will use Egger's regression asymmetry test to assess publication bias, the Ioannidis test for excess significance bias, and Hedges' g value for each risk factor.

Discussion: This is the first comprehensive analysis of the effect of antenatal care on low birth weight and neonatal mortality that we are aware of. For clinicians and researchers seeking to lower low birth weight and neonatal mortality, summarizing this evidence is helpful.

Trial registration: PROSPERO-CRD42024567150.

Keywords: Antenatal care; Low birth weight; Meta-analyses; Neonatal mortality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethical approval and dissemination plan: Ethical approval was not required for this study. This umbrella review has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Organization WH. UNICEF-WHO low birthweight estimates: levels and trends 2000–2015. World Health Organization; 2019.
    1. Defilipo ÉC, et al. Factors associated with low birthweight: a case-control study in a City of Minas Gerais. Rev Saude Publica. 2020;54:71. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ngo N, Bhowmik J, Biswas RK. Factors associated with low birthweight in low-and-Middle income countries in South Asia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(21):14139. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mulatu H, et al. Magnitude and factors associated with low birth weight among new born in selected public hospitals of addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2016. Glob J Med Res. 2017;17(5):27–34.
    1. Dilnessa T, Belete E, Tefera M. Prevalence of low birth weight and associated factors among new born babies in Ataye primary hospital, North Shoa, Ethiopia, 2018. Asian J Health Sci Med. 2020;18(3):1–1.

LinkOut - more resources