RESUMO
A baby's weight at birth is an important predictor of infant growth and survival. Low birth weight leads to an impaired growth of the infant and its attendant risks of a higher mortality and morbidity. Various studies found higher maternal plasma homocysteine level was associated with lower offspring birth weight. Therefore, this study was carried out to find out association between maternal serum homocysteine and birth weight. A cross sectional study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, BSMMU from September 2018 to August 2019. Pregnant women at their third trimester between 37-40 weeks admitted to in patient Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, BSMMU were included in this study. Ethical committee clearance was obtained from the institution. After matching eligibility criteria informed written consent were taken from the patients. Data was collected from the patients using the structured design by interview, observation, clinical examination and haematological investigations. The serum homocysteine level of these patients and birth weight of their babies was measured immediately after delivery. Negative correlation was found between maternal serum homocysteine level and neonatal birth weight, (r = -0.419, p<0.05). During regression analysis maternal homocysteine and gestational age was found significant when adjusted with maternal age, parity, maternal BMI and sex of the baby. So, increased maternal serum homocysteine is negatively associated with low birth weight babies.
