Short Interpregnancy Interval and its Effects on Birth Weight, a case-Control Study
WajihaRizwan, Natasha Bushra, Ayesha Saif, HumairaDurrani, Saba Ilyas Malik, ShabanaKhokhar, ShahnazKouser
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ABSTRACT
Background: Short interval between pregnancies
significantly increases the risk of low birth weight babies. It is a dilemma of
developing countries like Pakistan with increasing population and limited
number of neonatal care facilities.
Aim: To determine whether short time lapse (6-12 months) between two pregnancies
can lead to low weight of babies at birth.
Methods: A case-control study was conducted at the departments of Obstetrics
and Gynaecology, Punjab Rangers Teaching Hospital Lahore. The data was
collected from 250 patients (125 in each group) over a period of 6 months i.e.
from 01-03-19 to 31-08-19. The variables were evaluated and data was entered in
SPSS version 21.
Results:In this
study, 77(61.6%) in Cases and 84(67.2%) in Controls were between 20-30 years
while 48(38.4%) in Cases and 41(32.8%) in Controls were between 31-34 years of
age, mean+sd was calculated as 28.34±3.99 in cases and 28.38±3.85 in
controls, mean body weight and height was calculated, 58.74±4.21kgs
weight in cases and 56.23±3.87kgs in Controls while mean height was calculated as
149.37±5.61cm in Cases and 151.29±5.16cms in
Controls, comparison of low birth weight in both groups was done which reveals 34(27.2%)
in Cases and 11(8.8%) in Controls, Odds ratio was 3.87 and p value was
0.0003.It showed a significant increase in low weight at the time of birth in
cases than controls.
Conclusion: Short
interval between pregnancies (6-12 months) can significantly lead to low weight
of babies at birth which may be controlled by prolonging the interpregnancy
interval. This can be achieved by counselling patients for effective
contraception during the antenatal period of the current pregnancy.
Key words: Inter pregnancy interval, low birth weight
ABSTRACT
Background: Short interval between pregnancies
significantly increases the risk of low birth weight babies. It is a dilemma of
developing countries like Pakistan with increasing population and limited
number of neonatal care facilities.
Aim: To determine whether short time lapse (6-12 months) between two pregnancies
can lead to low weight of babies at birth.
Methods: A case-control study was conducted at the departments of Obstetrics
and Gynaecology, Punjab Rangers Teaching Hospital Lahore. The data was
collected from 250 patients (125 in each group) over a period of 6 months i.e.
from 01-03-19 to 31-08-19. The variables were evaluated and data was entered in
SPSS version 21.
Results:In this
study, 77(61.6%) in Cases and 84(67.2%) in Controls were between 20-30 years
while 48(38.4%) in Cases and 41(32.8%) in Controls were between 31-34 years of
age, mean+sd was calculated as 28.34±3.99 in cases and 28.38±3.85 in
controls, mean body weight and height was calculated, 58.74±4.21kgs
weight in cases and 56.23±3.87kgs in Controls while mean height was calculated as
149.37±5.61cm in Cases and 151.29±5.16cms in
Controls, comparison of low birth weight in both groups was done which reveals 34(27.2%)
in Cases and 11(8.8%) in Controls, Odds ratio was 3.87 and p value was
0.0003.It showed a significant increase in low weight at the time of birth in
cases than controls.
Conclusion: Short
interval between pregnancies (6-12 months) can significantly lead to low weight
of babies at birth which may be controlled by prolonging the interpregnancy
interval. This can be achieved by counselling patients for effective
contraception during the antenatal period of the current pregnancy.
Key words: Inter pregnancy interval, low birth weight