Low Birth Weight

Background: Annually, an estimated 20 million (13%) low-birthweight (LBW) and 15 million (11.1%) preterm infants are born worldwide. A paucity of data and reliance on hospital-based studies from low-income countries make it difficult to quantify the true burden of LBW and PB, the leading cause of neonatal and under-five mortality. We aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors for LBW and preterm birth in Lira district of Northern Uganda. Methods: This was a community-based cohort study, nested within a cluster-randomized trial, designed to study the effect of a combined intervention on facility-based births. In total, 1877 pregnant women were recruited into the trial and followed from 28 weeks of gestation until birth. Infants of 1556 of these women had their birthweight recorded and 1279 infants were assessed for preterm birth using a maturity rating, the New Ballard Scoring system. Low birthweight was defined as birthweight <2.5kg and preterm birth was defined as birth b...

In developing countries, where about 75% of births occur at home or in the community, logistic problems prevent the weighing of every newborn child. Baby born with a weight less than 2,500 g is considered low birth weight, since below this value birth-specific infant mortality begins to rise rapidly. In Bangladesh, the prevalence of low birth weight is unacceptably high. Infant's sex differences, birth to conception interval, gestational age, and Apgar score are associated with infant birth weight. To screen low-birth-weight babies, simple anthropometric parameters can be used in rural areas where 80–90% of deliveries take place. A sample of 343 newborn singletons, 186 male and 157 female babies, were studied in Southwest region of Bangladesh to examine the birth weight status of newborns and to identify the relationship between birth weight and other anthropometric parameters of newborns. The mean birth weight was 2754.81±465.57 g, and 28.6% were low-birth-weight (<2,500 g) ...

Hyperglycemia (HG) is an independent risk factor of mortality and morbidity in very low birth weight newborns (VLBW). Achievement of high nutritional intakes in the first days of life (DoL) by parenteral nutrition (PN) increases the risk of HG. We aim to assess if a delayed achievement of the PN macronutrient target dose could reduce the occurrence of HG in VLBW. We enrolled 353 VLBW neonates in a randomized controlled clinical trial comparing two PN protocols that differed in the timing of energy and amino acid target dose achievement: (1) early target dose achievement (energy within 4–5 DoL; amino acids within 3–4 DoL) vs. (2) late target dose achievement (energy within 10–12 DoL; amino acids within 5–7 DoL). The primary outcome was the occurrence of HG during the first week of life. An additional endpoint was long-term body growth. We observed a significant difference in the rate of HG between the two groups (30.7% vs. 12.2%, p = 0.003). Significant differences were observed in t...

The prevalence of low birth weight (LBW) and neurobehavioral disorders (N) has increased over the last three decades. However, it is unclear how many excess cases of ND can be attributed to LBW among U.S. children. The objectives of this study were to a) determine the association between LBW and ND including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), behavior and conduct disorder (BCD) and learning disability (LD); and b) determine the population attributable risk (PAR) of these disorders due to LBW. Study subjects were a nationally representative cross-sectional sample of 85,637 children ages 2 to 17 years old who participated in the 2011 National Survey of Children's Health. Birth weight and ND were reported by parents. LBW accounted for 6.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3-10.4) of all ASD cases, 2.4% (CI 0.1-5.1) of BCD, and 6.8% (CI 4.8-9.0) of LD among the study population. There was not a significant association between LBW and ADHD...

There is a growing body of epidemiological research reporting the neurological effects of ambient air pollution. We examined current evidence, identified the strengths and weaknesses of published epidemiological studies, and suggest future directions for research in this area. Studies were identified through a systematic search of online scientific databases, in addition to a manual search of the reference lists from the identified papers. Despite being a relatively new area of investigation, overall, there is mounting evidence implicating adverse effects of air pollution on neurobehavioral function in both adults and children. Further research is needed to expand our understanding of these relationships, including improvement in the accuracy of exposure assessments; focusing on specific toxicants and their relationships to specific health endpoints, such as neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases; investigating the combined neurological effects of multiple air p...

Few studies have assessed the associations between residential proximity to power plants and adverse birth outcomes including preterm delivery (PTD), very preterm delivery (VPTD), and term low birth weight (LBW). We geocoded 423,719 singleton Florida births born from 2004 to 2005 and all active power plants and determined residential proximity to the nearest power plant for each birth. Prenatal exposure to particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter for women living near different types of power plants was also determined by using National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network data. Logistic regression models were used to test the hypothesized associations. Women who lived closer to coal and solid waste power plants were exposed to higher levels of particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter compared with other types. We observed a 1.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3, 2.3) increased odds for PTD, 2.2% (95% CI: 1.0, 3.4) for VPTD, and 1.1% (95% CI: 0.2, 2.0) for te...

Worldwide, preterm birth and low birth weight are major causes of morbidity and mortality among newborns. These ailments raise the chance of developing chronic diseases later in life and can cause long-term health issues. Antenatal care (ANC) is acknowledged as an essential approach for keeping an eye on a pregnancy, spotting possible issues, and offering treatments that lower the risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery. Even though ANC has been shown to be important, more research is needed to understand how it is implemented and how beneficial it is for various groups and locations. The goal of this study is to highlight the importance of comprehensive antenatal care (ANC) in reducing the risks of low birth weight and preterm delivery, especially in environments with limited resources. This study focuses on the kind, timing, and frequency of antenatal care visits in order to assess the effect of this treatment on avoiding low birth weight and premature birth. A thorough analysis of the body of research was done, examining studies that looked into the connection between ANC and pregnancy outcomes. To evaluate the efficacy of various ANC therapies, data were taken from peer-reviewed studies and combined with other findings. The results highlight how crucial early and consistent ANC is for avoiding unfavorable pregnancy outcomes. Timely interventions associated with high-quality antenatal care (ANC) are crucial in lowering the rate of preterm birth and low birth weight, which in turn improves newborn health outcomes. The study emphasizes the necessity of laws that guarantee access to high-quality ANC services, especially in communities that are underprivileged.

Extremely preterm infants and infants born to adolescent mothers are at risk for adverse developmental. The objectives were to evaluate development and behavior outcomes of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants born to adolescent mothers <20 compared with adult mothers ≥20 years and to identify socioeconomic risk factors that affect outcomes. Retrospective cohort analysis of 211 infants >27 weeks of adolescent mothers and 1723 infants of adult mothers at Neonatal Research Network centers from 2008 to 2011. Groups were compared and regression models were run to predict 18- to 22-month adverse outcomes. Primary outcomes were Bayley-III scores, neurodevelopmental impairment, and Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment problem scores (BITSEA/P) ≥75th percentile. Adolescent mothers were more often single, Hispanic, less educated, and had public insurance. By 18 to 22 months, their children had significantly increased rates of having lived ≥3 places (21% vs 9%), state s...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The Surfactant Positive Airway Pressure and Pulse Oximetry Randomized Trial (SUPPORT) antenatal consent study demonstrated that mothers of infants enrolled in the SUPPORT trial had significantly different demographics and exposure to antenatal steroids compared with mothers of eligible, but not enrolled infants. The objective of this analysis was to compare the outcomes of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, severe retinopathy of prematurity, severe intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia (IVH/PVL), death, and death/severe IVH/PVL for infants enrolled in SUPPORT in comparison with eligible, but not enrolled infants. METHODS: Perinatal characteristics and neonatal outcomes were compared for enrolled and eligible but not enrolled infants in bivariate analyses. Models were created to test the effect of enrollment in SUPPORT on outcomes, controlling for perinatal characteristics. RESULTS: There were 1316 infants enrolled in SUPPORT; 3053 infants wer...

Conclusion: This study highlights the fact that a large number of neonatal deaths can be prevented by early identification, appropriate pre-referral stabilisation, improved communication and an effective transport system in place for safe referral of neonates to higher centres for management. The TOPS scoring system can serve as a guide for the paediatrician in initiating appropriate revival and/or treatment measures.

Low birth weight (LBW) has been considered as the strongest predictor of child morbidity and mortality. The goal of this study was to inspect the socio-demographics and nutritional status of mother and its impact on neonatal birth weight. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 85 mothers with third trimester’s pregnancy period of age between 17 to 35 years in maternal health care centers at Chittagong, Bangladesh. Average age of mothers was 24 04 years and age at marriage it was 18 03 years. Height and MUAC of the respondents were 153 5.37 cm and 25.53 3.09 cm respectively. Half of participants suffered from anemia (Hb level <11 g/dL). Average birth weight was 2759.7 561.42 g. The preterm birth was 10.6% and about 22.35% babies delivered by C section. Twenty eight percent of offspring were born with low birth weight (LBW), among the LBW babies, 11.76 % were born at home and 16.47 % at hospital. Maternal height (AOR: 2.79; 95% CI: 1.02-8.44), Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC...

Accurate prediction of a newborn’s birth weight (BW) is a crucial determinant to evaluate the newborn’s health and safety. Infants with low BW (LBW) are at a higher risk of serious short- and long-term health outcomes. Over the past decade, machine learning (ML) techniques have shown a successful breakthrough in the field of medical diagnostics. Various automated systems have been proposed that use maternal features for LBW prediction. However, each proposed system uses different maternal features for LBW classification and estimation. Therefore, this paper provides a detailed setup for BW estimation and LBW classification. Multiple subsets of features were combined to perform predictions with and without feature selection techniques. Furthermore, the synthetic minority oversampling technique was employed to oversample the minority class. The performance of 30 ML algorithms was evaluated for both infant BW estimation and LBW classification. Experiments were performed on a self-creat...

AimTo evaluate the association between the FokI (rs2228570), ApaI (rs7975232), Bsml (rs1544410), TaqI (rs 731236), and Cdx2 (rs11568820) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene and spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB), as well as their effect on clinical characteristics of women with SPTB and their newborns.MethodsThis case-control study enrolled women who gave birth at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center Ljubljana between 2010 to 2019. Cases were 118 women with spontaneous initiation of PTB after natural conception and 119 controls with a term singleton delivery after an uncomplicated pregnancy. The molecular analysis of VDR SNPs employed polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism.ResultsPatients and controls did not significantly differ in the distribution of genotype or allele SNP frequencies. However, the FokI polymorphism had a significant effect on newborn birth weight in women with SPTB but not in controls (F = 5.17, P = 0.007, one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Scheffe test), with newborns of FokI TT carriers having the lowest birth weight (P = 0.011). No other VDR SNP was associated with any other clinical characteristic of women with SPTB and their newborns.ConclusionThe TT genotype of the VDR FokI polymorphism is associated with newborn birth weight in women of European origin with SPTB.

AimTo evaluate the association between the FokI (rs2228570), ApaI (rs7975232), Bsml (rs1544410), TaqI (rs 731236), and Cdx2 (rs11568820) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene and spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB), as well as their effect on clinical characteristics of women with SPTB and their newborns.MethodsThis case-control study enrolled women who gave birth at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center Ljubljana between 2010 to 2019. Cases were 118 women with spontaneous initiation of PTB after natural conception and 119 controls with a term singleton delivery after an uncomplicated pregnancy. The molecular analysis of VDR SNPs employed polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism.ResultsPatients and controls did not significantly differ in the distribution of genotype or allele SNP frequencies. However, the FokI polymorphism had a significant effect on newborn birth weight in women with SPTB but not in controls (F = 5.17, P = 0.007, one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Scheffe test), with newborns of FokI TT carriers having the lowest birth weight (P = 0.011). No other VDR SNP was associated with any other clinical characteristic of women with SPTB and their newborns.ConclusionThe TT genotype of the VDR FokI polymorphism is associated with newborn birth weight in women of European origin with SPTB.

Background The ongoing spread coronavirus disease worldwide has caused major disruptions and led to lockdowns. Everyday lifestyle changes and antenatal care inaccessibility during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have variable results that affect pregnancy outcomes. This study aimed to assess the alterations in stillbirth, neonatal-perinatal mortality, preterm birth, and birth weight during the COVID-19 national lockdown. Methods We used the data from the Jordan stillbirths and neonatal death surveillance system to compare pregnancy outcomes (gestational age, birth weight, small for gestational age, stillbirth, neonatal death, and perinatal death) between two studied periods (11 months before the pandemic (May 2019 to March 2020) vs. 9 months during the pandemic (April 2020 to March 1st 2020). Separate multinomial logistic and binary logistic regression models were used to compare the studied outcomes between the two studied periods after adjusting for the effects of...

Low birth weight (LBW) neonates usually experience delays in developing gross and fine motor skills. Studies in Iran reveal a prevalence of growth retardation ranging from 7% to 26.3% among Iranian children. Recognizing the significance of complications associated with LBW, this study aims to scrutinize the developmental status of LBW infants at one year of age and juxtapose it with that of normal birth weight (NBW) neonates. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study involved 105 one-year-old children in Shirvan City, Iran. Participants were selected through a census, and their information was extracted from the SIB system (the integrated health record system). Data collection utilized the 12-month version of the ages and stages questionnaire (ASQ) and a demographic questionnaire. Statistical analyses, including the t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and linear regression, were performed using SPSS software, version 26. Results: The ASQ questionnaire revealed that the dimensions of problem-solving and individualsocial skills had the lowest and highest mean scores, respectively. A comparison of developmental domains between the two groups did not yield any significant differences. However, when considering gender, a noteworthy relationship emerged in both groups, particularly in communication and gross motor skills, as well as individual-social development and problem-solving. Conclusion: Noteworthy disparities were identified between LBW and NBW infants at birth, encompassing factors such as breastfeeding and maternal educational levels. Consequently, public health policies should prioritize initiatives to enhance mothers' and infants' health and nutritional well-being before and during pregnancy and early childhood.

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) infants are very susceptible to illness.LBW treatment with the principle of preventing infection is very important athome. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship betweenmaternal knowledge and family support with the prevention of infection at home.Methods: This study used a correlation design. The samples were 160 motherswho had low birth weight infants with inclusion criteria mothers give birth tobabies weighing less than 2,500 grams with ages 0-2 months. The samples wereobtained through purposive sampling. The dependent variable was the mother'sability to prevent infection while the independent variable was the mother'sknowledge and family support. The instruments used were questionnaires. Thisresearch analyzed using Spearman Rho.Results: The results showed that there was a strong correlation betweenknowledge and the ability to prevent infection in treating low birth weight (r =0.696; p = 0.00) and that there was a ...

Background: We developed a simplified IVF culture system (SCS) which has proven to be effective and safe in a selected IVF cohort. Methods: Preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW) of 175 singletons born after using the SCS, 104 after fresh embryo transfer (ET), and 71 after frozen embryo transfer, were compared with all singletons born in Flanders between 2012 and 2020 conceived after natural conception, ovarian stimulation (OS), and assisted reproduction (IVF/ICSI). Findings: The proportion of preterm (<37 weeks) births was significantly higher in the case of IVF or ICSI, followed by hormonal treatment, compared to spontaneous pregnancies. There was no significant difference in PTB between SCS and any of the other groups. Concerning the average birth weight we found no significant difference between singletons born after natural conception and SCS. However, a significant difference in average birth weight was found between SCS singletons and singletons born after IVF, ICS...

Background:Necrotizingenterocolitis (NEC) is the one of the commonest gastrointestinalemergency and leadingcause of mortality in preterm and very low birth babies (VLBW). Objective: This study was conducted to determine the incidence and outcome of necrotizing enterocolitis in very low birth weight babies during stay in hospital.

Background: Autism, Cerebral Palsy and Down Syndrome are three lifelong, non-curable common developmental disorders that affect approximately 1 in 59, 1 in 323, and 1 in 700 children respectively. This research is to study the effects of prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors on the development of Autism, Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Down Syndrome (DS) in a Trinidadian population.Methods: This was a descriptive case-control study comprised 75 subjects, with 25 cases from each of the three disorders investigated, i.e. autism, CP and DS.Results: The highest risk of autism was associated with mothers having high stress levels (p=0.002), high blood pressure (0.042), and low iron levels (p=0.012) during the pregnancy, as well as having a family history of autism (p=0.002) and residing in an air polluted area (p=0.034). The highest risk of cerebral palsy was associated with a child being born preterm (case 24%, control 0; p=0.009), experiencing postnatal complications (case 80%, control 4%...