Pregnancy weight gain and its correlation to birth weight.

This study was done to determine whether a relationship existed between maternal weight gain during pregnancy and the birth weight and if such a relationship did exist, to establish the minimum weight gain required for a normal birth weight baby. This was a retrospective study involving an audit of all antenatal records at a rural hospital and health centre. The records reviewed belonged to a period between '86-'99. About 2000 antenatal records were scanned and cases with complications and multiple pregnancy were excluded. The records reviewed pertained only to mothers who had delivered at this rural hospital. The final sample size was 935 mothers. The study revealed that a greater weight gain in second trimester resulted in a better birth weight (P < 0.05). Other factors that influenced the birth weight were: age (P < 0.001), regular antenatal check up (P < 0.05) and parity (P < 0.05).