A Hospital Based Observational Study Assessing Association between Maternal Education and Birth Weight of the Baby

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Abstract (English)

Abstract
Aim: The aim of the present study was to find out the correlation between maternal education and birth weight of
the baby.
Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics, during the study
period of 1 year. The total of 500 mothers who were admitted in the postnatal wards of GMCH, Bettiah, Bihar,
India during the study duration were enrolled in the study.
Results: The present study shows that 65% mothers were educated up to high school, 10% were graduated and
only 2% were post graduated. Mean education was 9th standard. 58.07% mothers had height between 150-159
and 0.39% mothers were < 130 cm tall. Mean height of mother was 145.11 cm. In our study, we found that rate
of LBW babies was significantly high among uneducated women. Maximum women belonged to 150-159 cms
followed by 140-149 cms. Most of the women had weight between 40-49 kgs followed by 50-59 kgs.
Conclusion: Poor health at birth is greater among babies of mothers with low education. Our study shows that,
in a setting where healthcare system provides essential health services to all women, irrespective of their
socioeconomic status, mother’s education is strongly associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, including
preterm birth, SGA. These findings merit attention from a public health perspective.