Maternal Haemoglobin and foetal birth weight - any relationship?

Abstract

A prospective cross sectional study was carried out, in which 5oo consecutively booked antenatal patients at term were recruited. Their haemoglobin concentrations were estimated at the onset of labour and the babies were weighed immediately after delivery. The values obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The mean haemoglobin concentration was 104.5g/L while the mean birth weight was 3186gm.The incidence of low birth weight was 5.2%.There was no statistically significant haemoglobin concentration/foetal birth weight difference among the various haemoglobin concentration groups. (X2 = 4.969 and p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in mean birth weight among the various haemoglobin groups suggesting that other parameters may play important roles in influencing foetal birth weight than maternal haemoglobin concentration. Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 54 (3-4) 2008: pp. 50-52