LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT IN NSW, 1987 - A POPULATION-BASED STUDY

The New South Wales perinatal data collection was used to examine the association between low birth-weight and some of its potential risk fa ctors. The study population comprised all recorded singleton births to residents of NSW in 1987. Low birth-weight infants were categorized a s either small for gestational age (SGA) or preterm (less than 37 week s). Risk factors were analyzed separately for these categories. The ri sk factors examined were primarily demographic or reproductive history variables. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression w ere used to evaluate the risk factors. The factors associated with SGA birth were mainly demographic (maternal age, parity, marital status, socioeconomic status, and ethnic group) while those associated with pr eterm birth had more reproductive history variables (maternal age, par ity, marital status, prior spontaneous abortion, prior induced abortio n, prior stillbirth or neonatal death, sex of infant). A first antenat al visit after 12 weeks had a statistically significant but small effe ct on both SGA and preterm birth.