Abstracts Category : Other

Risk factorsfor low birth weight for teenage mothers in TshwaneDistrict

by Lumbani Tshotetsi

Introduction: The magnitude of low birth weight wasestimated to be 13% globally in 2013 by UNICEF. Some studies havealluded that adolescence is associated with low birth weight. Thisstudy was done to assess whether teenage mothers had the same riskfactors for low birth weight as the adult mothers in TshwaneDistrict. Method: A case control study of retrospective data wasdone comparing low birth weight babies of teenage mothers and lowbirth weight babies of adult mothers for January to December of2014. Normal birth weight babies were selected as controls fromthe same age groups with 1:1 ratio. A total sample size of 1 073was reached and data analysis using STATA 14 was done to identifyrisk factors. Results: Out of a total sample of 1 073, about 77 %were adult mothers and 23% teenage mothers. Our study confirmsthat mothers are at an increased risk for low birth weight whenthey deliver prematurely OR 6.81, 95% confidence interval (CI)3.41 to 13.60 and p value <0.001. Women who attend 4 or lessantenatal visits had increased odds (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.86and p value 0.028) of delivering a low birth weight baby thanmothers who attended 5 or more times. When mothers were grouped byage, teenage mothers were more likely to deliver a low birth weightbaby when they delivered prematurely (AOR 5.81, 95 % CI 2.27 to14.07; p value <0.001) while for adult mothers, deliveringprematurely (AOR 6.58, 95% CI 3.38 to 12.82; p value <0.001)and attending antenatal care less than 4 times (AOR 1.33, 95 % CI1.02 to 1.72; p value 0.032) were risk factors. We further foundthat delivering preterm low birth weight babies was associatedwith young maternal age (AOR 0.47; 95% CI 0.31 to 0.71; p value<0.001) and attending less than 4 antenatal visits (AOR 1.92,95% CI 1.06 to 3.47; p value 0.030). Conclusion: This study is thefirst to stratify risk factors for low birth weight for teenagemothers in Tshwane District. Teenage mothers are less likely todeliver low birth weight babies though they have a higher risk ifthey deliver prematurely.Advisors/Committee Members: Harris, Bernice Nerine (advisor), Dzikiti, Loveness Nyaradzo (coadvisor).