MJM, Vol 70 Supplement 1 September 2015
Low birth weight babies born among antenatal mothers
at MCH clinics in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur
Kepong District, State Health Department of Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur & Putrajaya
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) new-borns are at higher risk for perinatal and infant mortality. The objective of this study was to identify the cause of LBW babies born among mothers registered at the Maternal Child Health (MCH) clinics.
Method: Babies born at 22 weeks and above, with birth weights from 500 gm to less than 2500gm were included in this study. Retrospective data was collected from government delivery records titled KIB 103 and antenatal cards titled KIK/1(b)/96 which were registered in 2013 from seven MCH clinics in Kepong Health District. The variables for this study were on booking visits, gestational age, risk factors and contributing factors. They was analysed using SPSS version 19. Unbooked mothers and mothers out of operational areas were excluded from this study.
Result: 384 registered mothers had delivered LBW babies. 85% of mothers were aged between 20 to 35 years with 50% of LBW babies born at 22 -37 weeks of gestational age while the remaining 50% delivered above 37 weeks. In spite of various health promotion programs conducted at the clinic level, 60% of mothers came above 12 weeks for their antenatal booking. At the time of first antenatal visit 87% were tagged as green, yellow and red tagging. The risk factors that were observed during the antenatal booking were anaemia (37%), diabetes (13%), hypertensive (10%), obesity (7%) and bad obstetric history (7%).
Conclusion: Anaemia is still a pressing issue with poor dietary intake and improper spacing between childbirths as the commoner reasons. A continuous supervision, monitoring and re-education for the patients and caregivers are a much needed requirement to correct the deficits in the anaemia national program at a minimal cost.
Key words: Low birth weight, infant mortality, perinatal mortality, antenatal care
