Prevalence and Associated Factors of Low Birth Weight among Newborns in a Tertiary Level Hospital in Nepal

Background A United Nations Children's Fund reported that the global low birth weight was 15.5%, more than 95.6% of them being from developing countries. Low Birth Weight is a major factor associated with neonatal deaths in developing countries. Also, birth weight is one of the major factor in determining child survival, growth and development. Objective The objective of the study was to identify the prevalence and associated factors of low birth weight among newborns delivered in Dhulikhel Hospital. Method A cross sectional research design was carried out among all newborns delivered at the maternity ward of Dhulikhel Hospital within a period of one year. Data were collected using delivery record register as well as its electronic version which was available in the ward. The collected data were entered and analyzed using software SPSS 20 version with descriptive and inferential statistics. Result Total 2,798 numbers of newborns delivered in the hospital during the period of one year met the inclusion criteria for the study. Among them, 21.6% had low birth weight. We found that low birth weight of newborns was significantly affected by younger age of the mother and lesser weeks of gestation at birth. There were no significantly affected by antenatal clinic visit, parity, sex of the baby, type of delivery. Conclusion The study found that more than one fifth of babies had Low Birth Weight. The study findings suggest that special emphasis should be given to minimize early pregnancy to avoid low birth weight babies.