Assessment of maturity by clinical examination of the Tanzanian newborn

One-thousand single live-born infants were examined and 111 were found to have low birthweight (2500 g or less). Assessment of maturity was made by using physical and neurological criteria without knowledge of when the last menstrual period occurred. The incidence of prematurity among all single live births was 4.5% by physical and 4.9% by neurological criteria and among low birthweight babies it was 40.6% and 44.2% respectively. Both the criteria were found to be equally reliable but physical signs are recommended for routine clinical use because of their simplicity.