Maternal age, parity and gestational age on the size of the newborn in Addis Ababa

Objective: To assess birthweight, length and head circumference of live bir ths, and to examine the effect of maternal age, parity and gestational age on birth sizes of the live births. Design: A prospective study. Setting: Tikur Anbessa, Zewditu, Gandhi memorial and St. Pauls hospitals, i n Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Subjects: Four thousand two hundred and six consecutive live births from Ju ly 1996 to January 1997. Main outcome measures: Weight, length and head circumference of the newborn s. Results: Among the 4206 consecutive live births, 4047 were singleton and 15 9 were twins. Two thousand one hundred and sixty (51.7%) were males and 204 6 (48.6%) were females. The mean birthweight of singleton live births was 3 065 +/- 465 g, with modal group of 3000-4000 g. The incidence of low birthw eight was 9.1%. The mean length for all singleton live births was 48.6 +/- 3.3 cm and modal group of 46-52 cm. The mean head circumference was 34.4+2. 9 cm; modal group 31-37 cm. The incidence of low birthweight of the newborn s was significantly higher for females, younger maternal age, primiparas an d pre-term babies. On the multivariate analysis, gestational age and sex of the newborn respectively had significant effects on birthweight, length an d head circumference of the neonates controlling for the other variables. O n the other hand parity and maternal age had significant effects only on th e birthweight of the neonates. Conclusion: This study has provided information on the effects of some of m aternal characteristics on the size, particularly length and head circumfer ence of newborns which were not given emphasis on previous birthweight stud ies. We suggest proper recording and analysis of birthweight, length and he ad circumferences be given importance for monitoring and evaluating materna l and child health programmes.