Low birthweight a babys low weight at birth is either the result of preterm birth before 37 weeks of gestation or of restricted foetal intrauterine growth. Wolke and others published preterm and low birth weight babies find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Low birth weight is a leading cause of neonatal mortality death before 28 days of age. Lowbirthweight pdf available in east african medical journal 833. Low birth weight lbw is defined by the world health organization as a birth weight of a infant of 2,499 g or less, regardless of gestational age. Premature birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy and fetal growth restriction are the most common causes of low birthweight. Risk factors associated with low birth weight infants in the. Defined as one whose birth weight is less than 2500 grams.
Lbw contributes to 60% to 80% of all neonatal deaths. Globally, about 22 million infants are born with a birth weight of low birth weight lbw infants 28% in the world. Preterm birth maternal and infant health reproductive. The primary cause is premature birth, being born before 37 weeks gestation. Safe transportation of premature and low birth weight infants. Low birthweight is when a baby is born weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces. Low birth weight infants have become the largest clinical population in the neonatal intensive care unit as a result of improved clinical care and enhanced survival. Another cause of low birthweight is intrauterine growth restriction. The weight is compared with the babys gestational age and recorded in the medical record. Birth weight below 2 pounds, 10 ounces we evaluate low birth weight in infants from birth to attainment of age 1 and failure to thrive in infants and toddlers from birth to attainment of age 3. Data for low birth weight infants calculated by maternal and child health epidemiology unit mchepi, section of womens, childrens and family health. Akibis health indicator report low birth weight infants. Preterm birth and low birth weight maternal and child.
Control infant were selected with the help a random sampling table. Preterm birth born before 37 weeks of pregnancy and being small for gestational age, which are the reasons for low birth weight lbw, are also important indirect causes of neonatal deaths. Withadequate intakes, humanmilk may be the superior feeding for low birth weight infants. Low birthweight is defined as less than 2,500 grams up to and including 2,499 grams. Early growth of very low birth weight infants article pdf available in east african medical journal 833. Low birthweight childrens hospital of philadelphia. A case control study on risk factors associated with low. At least six communities have rates of low birth weight infants that are too high the following communities have statistically higher rates of low birth weight compared to the healthy people 2010 objective for low birth weight of 5%. Neonatal mortality of lowbirthweight infants in bangladesh. Premature birth is a term for a baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Researchers have seen a persistent disparity in the birth weight of black infants compared to the birth weight of white infants. Impact of communityinitiated kangaroo mother care on. Low birth weight is more common in babies born in the uk to parents of asian, black or mixed heritage, than babies who are born to white european parents kelly et al 2009, nhs digital 2017.
Infant low birth weight definition and patient education. Regional estimates of low birth weight include 28% in south asia, % in subsaharan africa and 9% in latin america see table 1. Low birthweight a baby s low weight at birth is either the result of preterm birth before 37 weeks of gestation or of restricted foetal intrauterine growth. Risk factors associated with low birth weight infants in. Mar 31, 2017 number of babies born low birthweight less than 2500 grams.
Babies are weighed within the first few hours after birth. And while the educational completion outcome that conley and bennett. Problem statement more than 20 million infants worldwide, representing 15. Vlbw and elbw infants are at risk for cerebral palsy. Over several decades, survival rates of low birth weight lbw infants have markedly increased. Low birth weight babies were found to be nearly 5 times or 4. Results at 18 years of age for the infant health and development program. Globally, around 15% of newborns are born with low birth weight lbw as a result of preterm birth or intrauterine growth retardation or both, and up to 70% of neonatal deaths occur in these infants. Breastfeeding, kangaroo mother care, low birth weight, post natal growth. The greatest numbers of low birth weight infants were white 1034, followed by latino 586. Preterm birth is when a baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy have been completed. Wanda burton, assistant professor in uas college of human environmental sciences. Low birth weight infants account for two thirds of neonatal deaths in the united states.
In india, 28% of babies are born with lbw, and recent data derived from a study setting showed that 24% of babies are born with lbw 2, 3. The costs of low birth weight princeton university. This occurs when a baby does not grow well in utero. For example, infants born very preterm less than 32 weeks gestation or at a very low birth weight less than 1,500. Longterm implications of being born low birth weight lbw. Babies who are born the earliest and smallest have the highest risks of morbidity and mortality. For example, the expected costs of delivery and initial care of. Experts say that only 20percent of infants born as premature or with low birth weight are completely free of health problems for life. The term is to designate the newborns with birth weight les than 10th percentile or less then two standard deviation for their gestational age. Mar 25, 2019 low birth weight infants eat, drink, sleep, laugh, cry and grow just like other infants, they are just smaller. Fat the ability of low birth weight infants to absorb fat, particularly saturated fat such as butterfat, is relatively poor.
Global nutrition targets 2025 low birth weight policy brief. Research has indicated that some infants, particularly prema ture and low birth weight infants, may be subject to. Very preterm, preterm, very low birth weight, and low birth. Optimizing nutrition in preterm low birth weight infants.
Dec 05, 20 infant low birth weight lbw happens when babies weigh less than 5 pounds and 8 ounces at birth. About 6% of all babies are estimated to be born with a low birth weight. As per who criteria, incidence of lbw in india is 33% each year. Ocular outcomes in low birth weight premature infants with. Survival data for infants born at ucsf from 19982002 inclusive are. Some low birthweight babies are healthy, but others have serious health problems that need treatment. We use the infants birth weight as documented by an original or certified copy of the infants birth certificate. Who care of the preterm and lowbirthweight newborn. Normal weight at term delivery is 25004200 g 5 pounds 8. Pdf low birth weight infants diego fernandez academia. Low birth weights in blacks tied to racial identity, moms.
Low birthweight in newborns symptoms and causes boston. Babies weighing less than 1,500 grams 3 pounds, 5 ounces at birth are considered very low birthweight. In 2018, preterm birth affected 1 of every 10 infants born in the united states. Birthweight is the first weight of the newborn obtained after birth. After a low birth weight infant has been medically cleared, they will leave the nicu and go home with mom and dad. Cost of hospitalization for preterm and low birth weight. Infants born with low weight face a number of serious health risks. Cases were all infants born with birth weight less than 2500g.
Following a downward trend from 2007 to 2014, the u. Full text the full text of this article is available as a pdf 156k. Sixtyseven percent of all low birth weight babies are premature births. For live births, birthweight should preferably be measured within the first hour of life, before significant postnatal weight loss has occurred. We will focus on what be believe to be the most important causes. It consists of skintoskin contact, exclusive breastfeeding and early discharge with an.
Globally, about 18 million infants are born with a birth weight of low birth weight lbw infants constitute only about 14% of the total live births, they account for 6080% of total neonatal deaths. A birthweight less than 2,500 grams 5 pounds, 8 ounces is diagnosed as low birthweight. Jun 30, 2015 problem statement more than 20 million infants worldwide, representing 15. Infant low birth weight lbw happens when babies weigh less than 5 pounds and 8 ounces at birth. Prematurity is the worlds single biggest cause of new born deaths and 2nd leading cause of all child deaths after pneumonia. Low birth weight is defined as less than 2,500 grams about 5 pounds, 8 ounces. Nearly 75% of the neonatal deaths and 50% of infant deaths occur among low birth weight baby. Birth weight is the weight of the newborn measured immediately after birth. The group of infants most likely to benefit from improvements in lowcost essential care for the newborn accounted for almost 61% of neonatal mortalities in the cohort.
This can happen for many different reasons which may or may not be related. Preterm birth and low birth weight vary by race and ethnicity, with rates typically highest among infants born to nonhispanic black women. However, it is important to understand that not all low birth weight babies have some underlying medical condition or problem. For example, the expected costs of delivery and initial care of a baby weighing grams at birth can exceed. Preterm birth rates decreased from 2007 to 2014, and cdc research shows that this decline is due, in part, to declines in the number of births to teens and young. Health effects low birthweight and the environment cdc.
In india low birth weight was 30% in year 2008, and only in punjab state 21. This was a casecontrol study carried out at the tuanku jaafar hospital, seremban, malaysia over a fivemonth period. Some lowbirthweight babies are healthy, but others have serious health problems that need treatment. Birth certificate data updated by havrs on may 22, 2019 sas analysis in may 2019. Preterm birth and low birthweight in 20, the overall preterm birth rate was 11. Lowbirthweight infants have become the largest clinical population in the neonatal intensive care unit as a result of improved clinical care and enhanced survival. Introduction kangaroo mother care kmc is a humane, low cost method of care of low birth weight lbw infants particularly for those weighing less than 2000 g at birth. Low birth weight is the leading cause of infant mortality in black infants in the united states, said dr. The two main causes for a baby to be born at a low birth weight are premature birth and intrauterine growth restrictions iugr. The relative risk for death with phototherapy was 1. Subcategories include very low birth weight vlbw, which is less than 1500 g 3 pounds 5 ounces, and extremely low birth weight elbw, which is less than g 2 pounds 3 ounces. Data for low birth weighta,b regiona % of infants with low birth weightb % of infants not. Top 12 causes of low birth weight in babies being the parent. Birth weight g survival 500750 74% 7511,000 82% 1,0011,250 92% 1,2511,500 95% longterm outcome.
Kumar rk, singhal a, vaidya u, banerjee s, anwar f and rao s 2017 optimizing nutrition in preterm low birth weight infantsconsensus summary. Preterm birth born before 37 weeks of pregnancy and being small for gestational age, which are the reasons for lowbirthweight lbw, are also important indirect causes of neonatal deaths. The exceptions are hungary, mexico, and poland, where it has decreased, and denmark, estonia, latvia, new zealand, norway, sweden, turkey and the united kingdom, where it has remained fairly stable. Pdf 985 kb describing the increase in preterm births in the united. A low birth weight infant can be born too small, too early, or both. As a result of these risks, preterm birth and low birth weight are leading causes of infant death and childhood disability. Lbw often occurs in babies who are born prematurely, before 37 weeks of gestation. Reliable information on prepregnancy weight or weight gain during pregnancy could not be obtained due to case control nature of this study, and. The causes of death in lbw neonates include respiratory. Survival of vlbw babies is directly related to birth weight. Risk factors of low birth weight and effect of them on growth. Between june 1994 and march 1996, 490 low birthweight premature infants, defined as infants with a birth weight of less than 1 500 grams,910 were discharged alive from the. Definitions of low birth weight are based on average uk figures for all babies weights at birth nhs digital 2017.
1452 655 1311 1643 1160 434 1119 185 551 931 847 1196 1064 443 100 659 1417 1564 1104 677 226 578 1262 435 788 1218 973 481 1246 344 183 242 1545 422 1444 664 556 669 783 216 435 513 1135