Maternal and Environmental Factors Influencing Infant Birth Weight in Ibadan, Nigeria
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Date
2011-12
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Publisher
African Population Studies
Abstract
Fetal weight at birth is a major determinant of survival, physical growth and
mental development of an infant. About 14 percent of all births in Nigeria are
born with low birth weight. Studies on birth weight in Nigeria have focused
mainly on the biomedical risk factors and have largely ignored the influence the
socio-cultural environment which encompasses maternal knowledge, beliefs,
and practices during the prenatal period. With the premise that birth weight
shows a reverse social gradient, this study examined the effects of maternal,
sociocultural and environmental factors on the birth weight of infants in Ibadan.
The research adopted a prospective survey design method involving multistage
sampling procedure to select 1,138 pregnant women accessing antenatal care
services from both orthodox and community health providers. The instrument
comprised structured questionnaire, and secondary data were generated from
the patients’ files retrieved from the antenatal care centres. The study identified
a number of maternal, socioeconomic and environmental factors that significantly
influence low birth weight and suggested actions that would help
reduce the risk factors of low birth weight and promote care-seeking and
demand for skilled care at all stages of pregnancy.
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Keywords
Antenatal care, High risk pregnancy, Skilled care, Maternal health, Birth weight