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Maternal Characteristics and Their Influences on Birth Weight in a Melanesian Population
Author(s) -
Burrows R. F.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
asia‐oceania journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 0389-2328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1447-0756.1988.tb00063.x
Subject(s) - medicine , birth weight , parity (physics) , pregnancy , gestational age , weight gain , obstetrics , population , gestation , pediatrics , body weight , genetics , physics , environmental health , particle physics , biology
Birth weight of all clinic attending Nivanuatu was analyzed in relationship to the maternal characteristics of weight, height, age, parity, hemoglobin and weight gain in the pregnancy. In addition, the birth weight relationship was determined for gestational length, number of visits to clinic, and the timing of the initial visit to clinic. As in North American and European studies, the birth weight in this Melanesian population was influenced by similar maternal factors of prepregnant weight, weight gain, parity, height and gestational length. The average patient delivering at Central Hospital, Port Vila was 24 years old, 158 cm in height, weighed 64 kg at first booking clinic and gained 400 g/week in the last half of her pregnancy. The patients started attending clinic at mid‐pregnancy and made an average of 6 visits to clinic. The mean gestational age of their infants was 40 weeks with a birth weight of 3,125 g.