Factors associated with low birth weight among babies born at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Low birth weight is defined as infant born with weight of less than 2500 g. It is one of the major public health problems worldwide. In Ethiopia, there are limited evidences on factors contributing to low birthweight. OBJECTIVE: To assess factors associated with low birth weight babies in Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Ethiopia from March to April, 2018. METHODS AND MATERIALS: An unmatched case control study was conducted at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. All low birth weight newborns and two unmatched controls for each case were included in the study from March to April, 2018. Data were collected through face to face interview using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The collected data were managed with Epi-data version 3.1 software and exported to the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22. Bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with low birth weight at p-value < 0.05 with their respective odds ratios and 95% confidence interval. Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to assess goodness-of-fit. RESULTS: In this study 330 mother-newborn pairs (110 cases and 220 controls) were participated making 100% response rate. Among the participants 325(98.48%) were married, 164 (49.7%) were Protestant, 296 (89.7%) had ANC follow up and 212 (64.24%) were multipara. Mothers’ mid-upper arm circumference less than 220 mm [(AOR) =2.89, 95% CI: 1.58, 5.29)], lack of nutritional counseling [AOR = 2.37, 95%CI: 1.3, 4.34], presence of complications during pregnancy [AOR = 2.96, 95%CI: 1.55, 5.64)] and lack of iron supplementations during pregnancy [AOR = 2.89, 95%CI: 1.58, 5.29)] were significantly associated with Low birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers’ mid-upper arm circumference less than 220 mm, lack of nutritional counseling, presence of complications and lack of iron supplementations during current pregnancy were significantly associated with low birth weight. Counseling on nutrition during prenatal care needs attention of service providers.