Factors Affecting Birth Weight in Bangkaew District, Phatthalung Province - ปัจจัยทีมีผลต่อนําหนักทารกแรกคลอด อําเภอบางแก้ว จังหวัดพัทลุง

Abstract

              The purpose of this hospital-based longitudinal study was to investigate factors affecting birth weight in Bangkaew District, Phatthalung Province. Data of 697 neonatal children were gathered using secondary data based on 43 folders between the year 2010 and 2014. The main outcome was birth weight categorized into three groups: (1) less than 2,500 grams, (2) 2,500 to 3,500 grams, and (3) more than 3,500 grams. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic factors of mothers and neonatal children. Ordinal logistic regression was used to analyze factors affecting birth weight of neonatal children. The main results revealed that garvida and antenatal care were statistical significantly affected to birth weight. That were – the second gravida (OR=0.38, 95%CI=0.23-0.62) and the third gravida (OR=0.32, 95%CI=0.19-0.52) were more likely 62.00 and 68.00 percent to have over weight among neonatal children, respectively compared to the first gravida. In addition, attended antenatal care less than 5 times was more likely to have low birth weight 2 times (OR=1.85, 95%CI=1.22-2.82), compared to pregnant women who attended a completed antenatal care. The results suggested that health personnel who had responsibility for maternal and child health care should promote pregnant women to attend a complete antenatal care as recommended. In addition, health education related to practice during pregnancy should be intensively provided to mothers and families in order to prevent low and high birth weight.

Key words: neonatal, birth weight, gravidity, antenatal care