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Document Type

Article

Abstract

To establish population differences in birth weight and the effect of some maternal, socioeconomic and other factors, 628 mother-infant pairs in four different regions in Turkey were investigated. Mean birth weight in the total group of infants was 3252 ± 504 g. Incidence of LBW was 7%. Mean gestational age by Dubowitz scoring was 38.9 ± 1.1 weeks. Incidence of preterm birth was 17.7%. Mean maternal postpartum body weight and stature were 58.8 ± 8.7 kg and 156.0 ±5.8 cm. The frequency of underweight mothers by postpartum weight was 7.7%. This frequency was 16.1% when ponderal index was used in the assessment. Six percent (5.9%) of the mothers were of low stature. Low socioeconomic level, maternal illiteracy, adolescent pregnancy, excessive multiparity and maternal mulnutrition stood out as important factors influencing birth weight. Differences in socioeconomic level, literacy rate, frequency of adolescent pregnancies and maternal nutritional state existed between the four regions. It was concluded that the observed interregional variations in birth weight were largely due to these environmental effects. The results of the study also indicate that postpartum body weight can be used as an index in the assessment of maternal nutritional state.

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