Modeling the Effect of Mother's Characteristics on the Weight of a Newborn

A novel scale for assessing the risk of low birthweight: Birthweight questionnaire

BACKGROUND

The birthweight of a newborn is critical to their health, development, and well-being. Previous studies that used maternal characteristics to predict birthweight did not employ a harmonised scale to assess the risk of low birthweight (LBW).

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to develop a new instrument that uses items on a uniform scale to assess the risk of an LBW in a pregnant woman.

METHODS

Item response theory was employed to evaluate a similar existing scale, and some weaknesses were identified.

RESULTS

Based on the observed weaknesses of the existing scale, a new uniform scale was developed, which is a 3-point Likert scale consisting of seven items.

CONCLUSION

The scale, termed birthweight questionnaire, is a valuable tool for collecting data that could assist in assessing the risk of an LBW at every stage of pregnancy.

Antenatal Care Visits: A Moderator of the Association Between a Mother’s Age and the Neonate’s Birthweight

BACKGROUND

Antenatal care (ANC) visits influence the birthweight of a neonate. However, it is not clear whether ANC directly affects birthweight or simply acts as a moderator in the association between some maternal variable(s) and birthweight.

METHOD

A secondary dataset consisting of 701 records of pregnant women who attended private and public hospitals in northern Nigeria was analyzed. Crude and stratum-specific odds ratios were computed to investigate the role of ANC in the association between various maternal variables and the neonate’s birthweight.

FINDINGS

The mean age of the mothers in the experimental dataset was 26.4 years with a mean of three ANC visits and a mean neonate birthweight of 2.6 kilograms (kg) or 5.732 pounds (lbs). The number of ANC visits was found to moderate the association between a mother’s age and a neonate’s birthweight. No such moderation association was found between any other variables including a mother’s level of education, weight, or parity and a neonate’s birthweight.

CONCLUSIONS

ANC visits appear to influence the relationship between a mother’s age and neonatal birthweight. The odds of an adult pregnant mother giving birth to a neonate of adequate birthweight can be maximized by attendance at a minimum of four ANC visits.