Birth weight and nutritional status of pregnant women monitored in Primary Health Care, Punta Arenas, Chile.

Abstract

Introduction: Chile currently shows better health conditions and quality of life for children and adolescents, however, problems associated with excess malnutrition persist in the entire population. Evidence shows that there is a relationship between the nutritional status of the mother at the end of pregnancy and the weight of the newborn.

Objective: To characterize a group of newborns born to pregnant women controlled in Primary Health Care (PHC), and to establish the relationship between birth weight and gestational variables and nutritional status of the mother at the end of pregnancy.

Methods: Prevalence study of 100 newborns (NB) of pregnant women in regular prenatal care who completed their pregnancy process between January and November 2018, at the Dr. Thomas Fenton Family Health Center (CESFAM) in the city of Punta Arenas, Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region.

Results: 74% of the mothers had excess malnutrition at the end of pregnancy. Of the NBs, 65.9% had normal birth weight (NBW), 23.6% insufficient birth weight (IBW), 4.9% had low birth weight (LBW), 4.9% had high birth weight (HBW) and 1.2% had very low birth weight (VLBW). Of the NBs, 89.9% were diagnosed as adequate for gestational age (AEG), 7.6% as small for gestational age (SGA) and 2.5% as large for gestational age (LGA). MN and SGA are more prevalent in mothers aged 20 to 29 years. 75.2% of the MN newborns and 100% of the SGA newborns are born to mothers who are obese at the end of pregnancy.

Discussion: The condition of MN and GEG NBs was associated with maternal obesity, coinciding with national and international studies.

Conclusions: Efforts should be redoubled in PHC to combat overweight and obesity in pregnant women and avoid risky births.