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Low birth weight across generations.

James W Collins¹, Richard J David, Nikhil G Prachand

¹Department of Pediatrics, Children's Memorial Hospital, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA. jcollins@northwestern.edu

Maternal and Child Health Journal

|December 20, 2003

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Maternal low birth weight is a significant risk factor for infant low birth weight, regardless of prenatal care. This association is more pronounced in African American infants, highlighting a critical public health concern.

Area of Science:

Reproductive Health
Perinatal Epidemiology
Public Health

Background:

Maternal birth weight is a potential determinant of infant birth weight.
Understanding this relationship is crucial for identifying at-risk pregnancies and improving infant outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the association between maternal birth weight and infant birth weight.
To examine the influence of prenatal care usage on this relationship.
To assess disparities in low birth weight risk between racial groups.

Main Methods:

Analysis of computerized Illinois vital records for White and African-American infants and their mothers.
Stratified and logistic regression models were employed.
Data spanned births from 1989-1991 and maternal births from 1956-1975.

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Main Results:

Maternal low birth weight significantly increased infant low birth weight risk (RR 1.9-2.2 for White, 2.1-2.4 for African American mothers) even with adequate prenatal care.
Population attributable risk for maternal low birth weight was higher in African American mothers (10.9%) compared to White mothers (4.1%).
Associations remained consistent across maternal demographics and prenatal care utilization.

Conclusions:

Maternal low birth weight is an independent risk factor for infant low birth weight.
A larger proportion of low birth weight infants among African Americans are attributable to maternal low birth weight.
Interventions targeting maternal health prior to pregnancy may reduce infant low birth weight.