Birth weight pattern in the only referral teaching hospital in Manipur.

ABSTRACT

Birth weight is an important determinant for child development and survival. Birth weight has been reported to be increasing with the passing years. There is no such accurate documentation from the state of Manipur. This cross sectional study has been attempted to see the birth weight pattern in the largest referral hospital in Manipur. Birth weights of four reference years in the last 15 years have been extracted from the records and analysed. There were 19478 singleton deliveries in the four reference years. The mean birth weight showed a gradual increase in these years. There was a gain of 88.9 g in 2000 since 1986 in term deliveries. There were significant differences in the mean birth weights among the four years, even after stratifying for gestation. However, there was no significant decrease in the percentage of low birth weight babies in these years. Low birth weight showed significant association with parity, age of the mother, booking status, haemoglobin level, and literacy of the mother. Since there was no significant decrease in low birth weight babies in spite of increasing birth weight, there is a need for continued and committed effort to realize the goals of RCH.