Maternal factors associated with delivery of infants with birthweight less than 2000 grams in a low socioeconomic population.
Women of low socioeconomic status (SES) are known to have a higher incidence of low birthweight (LBW) infants who are a major source of neonatal mortality and morbidity. SES, however, does not define a homogeneous population. If prenatal programs could be oriented specifically toward women of higher risk within the low SES population, they should be more effective. Within our uniformly low SES population, we compared mothers who had given birth to infants weighing less than 2000 g with mothers of infants weighing over 3000 g in order to identify factors associated with a LBW birth. We found medical factors, including hypertension and infection during pregnancy, demographic factors, including race, marital status, and lack of prenatal care, and lifestyle factors, including drug and alcohol abuse, to be more common among women giving birth to infants weighing less than 2000 g. These factors can be used to develop more effective intervention programs for low SES populations.
Teberg
A J
AJ
Department of Pediatrics, University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles.
Settlage
R
R
Hodgman
J E
JE
King
Y
Y
Aguilar
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors