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Maternal pregravid weight, age, and smoking status as risk factors for low birth weight births

C Nandi1, M R Nelson

  • 1Illinois Department of Public Health, Springfield 62761.

Public Health Reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)
|November 1, 1992
PubMed

Insights

Women over 30 who smoke and are underweight during pregnancy face the highest risk of delivering low birth weight (LBW) babies. This risk increases significantly with age, highlighting critical prenatal factors for infant health.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Maternal and Child Health

Background:

  • Prenatal risk factors significantly predict infant mortality and low birth weight (LBW).
  • The Illinois Department of Public Health collaborates with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to monitor these trends.
  • Surveillance data are crucial for understanding population-level health risks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze trends in prenatal risk factors associated with infant mortality and LBW.
  • To identify specific demographic and behavioral factors contributing to LBW.
  • To inform public health interventions aimed at reducing LBW.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of statewide birth records submitted to the CDC.
  • Utilizing surveillance data from 1988, encompassing 26,767 records of Illinois women.
  • Statistical examination of the relationship between maternal age, smoking status, pregravid weight, and infant birth weight.

Main Results:

  • Women over 30 years old who smoked and were underweight during pregnancy had the highest risk of LBW infants (13.9% vs. 8% for underweight non-smokers).
  • The prevalence of LBW was substantially higher in underweight smokers over 34 years (29.6%) compared to those aged 30-34 (15.2%).
  • For smokers of normal or overweight status, LBW prevalence decreased as pregravid weight increased (10% and 8.6%, respectively).

Conclusions:

  • Maternal smoking and underweight status, particularly in women over 30, are significant risk factors for delivering LBW babies.
  • Advanced maternal age (over 34) exacerbates the risk of LBW among underweight smokers.
  • Public health strategies should focus on preconception counseling regarding weight management and smoking cessation for women of childbearing age, especially older women.

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