Correlation between gestational weight gain and birth weight of the infants.

Birth weight is an important determinant of infant's well being as low birth weight is known to increase the risk adult onset of diseases like type-2 diabetes and ischemic heart disease. Maternal weight gain is one of the most important independent predictors of infant birth weight. Institute of Medicine of the National Academics, USA has recommended that total weight gain of mothers should be according to their prepregnancy body mass index (BMI). Therefore, this study was conducted to observe the total weight gained by the pregnant women and the correlation between the weights gained by them with the birth weight of their infants. 98 women who delivered full term single baby at Patan hospital were included after taking their verbal consent. The details of the newborn and the history of the pregnant women were taken from the hospital records. The information about the family income, dietary habit, birth spacing and the type of work done by the pregnant women was obtained from the women themselves. The mean weight gain of the mothers was 9.48 (SD = 3.41) kilograms and the mean birth weight of the infants was found to be 2965.66 (SD = 364.37) grams. Multiple Liner Regression Models showed the effect of Gestational weight gain (GWG), Age and Parity on birth weight of the infant. Step-wise multiple regressions gave rise to models that showed effect of GWG and age on birth weight of the infants. This study concluded that gestational weight gain has positive linear relationship (correlation) with the birth weight of infants.