RESUMO
Three hundred and thirty two pregnant women who were attending three antenatal clinics in Morogoro Municipality in Tanzania were followed in their third trimester of pregnancy in a study which aimed at finding if there was any association between weight gain in third trimester and birth weight of singleton deliveries. The relationship between weight and gestational period, age of the mother, parity and maternal weight near term were also studied. Univariate regression analysis showed that there was a strong positive correlation between birth weight and gestational period. Correlation was also found between birth weight and age of the mother, parity and weight near term, while a week correlation was found between birth weight and maternal weight gain in the third trimester. Multiple regression analysis showed that only the gestation period and weight near term were independently related to birth weight. Despite low maternal weight gain, birth weight was not affected, this shows that there might be some physiological adaptation which come into play to protect the foetus where a woman is subjected to inadequate nutrition during pregnancy.
PIP: 332 pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy attending three antenatal clinics in Morogoro Municipality in Tanzania were followed in this study to determine whether an association exists between third trimester weight gain and birth weight of singleton deliveries. The relationship between weight and gestational period, age of mother, parity and maternal weight near term was also studied. Univariate regression analysis found a strong positive correlation between birth weight and gestational period. Correlation was also found between birth weight and age of mother, parity, and weight near term, while a weak correlation was observed between birth weight and maternal weight gain in the third trimester. Multiple regression, however, found only the gestation period and weight near term to be independently related to birth weight. Birth weight was not affected despite low maternal weight gain. This finding suggests that some physiological adaptation may occur to protect fetuses in women subjected to inadequate nutrition during pregnancy.
