Correlates of fetal growth and survival

Data on 36 611 singleton deliveries in Indonesia were used to contrast patient characteristics, obstetric history and pregnancy outcome for two birth weightgroups among women experiencing the best and poorest stillbirth rates, namely 3 000-3 499 g and less than 2 500 g, respectively. The low birthweight group was characterized by younger age at first marriage, rural residence, lower educational attainment, less antenatal care and poorer pregnancy outcome and infant survival. Both groups showed progressive anemia prevalence with increasing parity with lower hemoglobin levels for the low birth weight group. Stillbirth rates were particularly high (60.6 per 1 000 pregnancies) for the under 20 year olds in the lower birthweight group. The results suggest poorer maternal nutrition among women with lower educational achievement, higher energy expenditures among rural women, nutritional reserves depletion with increasing parity and competition between the teenager's nutritional needs for her own physical growth and fetal growth as factors in low birthweight and perinatal mortality.