Factors Related to Low Birth Weight Infants of Adolescent Mothers Delivered at Yasothon Hospital - ปัจจัยที่มีผลต่อทารกแรกเกิดน้ำหนักน้อยของมารดาวัยรุ่นที่มาคลอดบุตร ในโรงพยาบาลยโสธร

Abstract

      Adolescent pregnancy is a world-wide problem bearing serious social and medical implications relating to maternal and infant health. The numbers of adolescent pregnancies and low birth weight (LBW) infants are steadily increasing over the target in Yasothon Hospital that still has never been studied. The purpose of this research was to determine the incidence of LBW and factors that related LBW of adolescent mothers who had delivered at Yasothon Hospital. Two hundred and twenty adolescent mothers were collected by interview questionnaires during October 2009 - March 2010. The study revealed that, the incidence of LBW of adolescent mothers was 9.1 percent. When the alcoholic and the smokers were compared with the nonalcoholic and the nonsmokers, odds ratio were 5.69 (confidence interval (95% CI 1.90, 17.10, p 0.002) for LBW. When labor < 37 weeks gestations (preterm) were compared with labor ≥ 37 weeks gestation, odds ratio were 4.85 (95% CI 1.78, 13.19, p 0.002). In order to reduce the incidence of low birth weight of adolescent mothers the target group should be educated about self care especially to be strictly nondrinking, nonsmoking and making efforts for full term delivery. For policy suggestions; public and private health services should be friendly, comprehensive, adequate, and accessible. Adequate prenatal care and postpartum care should support both physical and psychological aspects. Furthermore, adolescent education on reproductive health is a way to reduce this problem.
Key words: adolescent mothers, low birth weight, drinking, smoking, gestation period