Maternal obstetric and socio-demographic determinants of low birth weight: a retrospective cross-sectional study in Ghana

BACKGROUND: Birth weight is an important predictor of early neonatal mortality, morbidity, and long-term health outcomes. Annually, approximately 20 million babies are born globally with weights less than 2.5kg. In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of LBW is around 13 to 15 percent. In Ghana, 10% of babies born in 2014 were with LBW. The aim of this study was to identify maternal socio-demographic and obstetric risk factors associated with the birth weight of newborns in the Sunyani Municipality of Ghana. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study analysed data from 931 birth records of all deliveries between January 1 and December 31, 2017, at the Sunyani Municipal Hospital in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to estimate the effect of maternal factors on low birth weight. RESULTS: We found that the mean age of the participants and the mean gestational age at birth were 27.21(SD = 5.50) years and 37.95(SD = 1.85) weeks respectively. Nearly 10% of the infants born within the study period had birth weights below 2.5kg. The findings revealed that the odds of delivering LBW baby were significantly high (OR 1.77, 95%CI 1.14-2.76) among urban dwellers. However, mothers who attended or completed secondary or higher education were 63% (95% CI 0.20–0.78) less likely to give birth to a LBW baby when compared with uneducated mothers. We found that the odds of LBW significantly decreased with every one-week increase in gestational age (OR 0.67 95%CI 0.59-0.76) and significantly increased with increasing parity (OR 1.43 95%CI 1.21-1.70). Further, the likelihood of delivering LBW baby decreased with every additional ANC visit (OR 0.78 95%CI 0.67-0.90) and with every additional gram of haemoglobin (OR 0.78 95%CI 0.63-0.95). CONCLUSION: The evidence from this study suggests that maternal educational level, residence, haemoglobin level, parity, number of ANC visits, and gestational age are independent predictors of low birth weight. The current findings add substantially to the growing literature on the influence of maternal socio-demographic and obstetric factors on LBW in resource-constrained settings and provide empirical data for clinical and public health interventions aimed at reducing low birth weight and its associated complications.