Maternal Anemia and Fetal Birth Weight; a comparative, cross-sectional, multi-centric study.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between maternal anemia and fetal birth weight and how other variables impact fetal birth weight. Study Design: Comparative, Cross-sectional, Multi-centric study. Setting: Labor Room Jinnah Hospital Lahore, Labor Room Allied Hospital Faisalabad, Labor Room Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi. Period: 01-08-2020 to 31-10-2020. Material & Methods: The data for this comparative, cross-sectional, multi-centric study was collected using a structured questionnaire from 360 subjects with equal representation among 3 major tertiary care centers of Punjab, Pakistan. Sample size was calculated using Open-Epi software at 95 percent confidence interval, taking frequency of anticipated factor (frequency of LBW babies among anemic females) as 64 percent. The calculated sample was 353 and we recruited 360 subjects for the study. 120 subjects from each study setting were recruited and divided into anemic and non-anemic groups of 60 subjects each. The sample size was equally divided among anemic and non-anemic groups to achieve comparative analysis of both groups for a variety of variables. Data analysis was performed on R v 4.0.2. Results: This study demonstrated a significant association between maternal anemia and low fetal Birth weight. In Anemic group, 28.88% of the babies were born with Low Birth weight, as compared to 17.77% Low Birth weight babies in the Non-Anemic group, the difference being statistically significant (p<0.012). Conclusion: Maternal anemia and fetal birth weight have a significant negative correlation. Mothers with Anemia are more likely to give birth to babies with Low weight at Birth.