Association of Neonatal Mortality with Low Birth Weight

Aim: To determine infant mortality of low birth weight infants and their relationship to low birth weight and gestational age. Study Design: Prospective study. Place and duration of study: Paediatric Department of Sharif Medical City Hospital, Lahore for one year duration from March 2018 to March 2019. Methods: The study covered all children with low birth weight (LBW), single live births in this hospital. Information about neonates was collected in a pre-designed form. Newborns with LBW were observed / treated in the neonatal ward of this hospital and were observed in various ways (such as follow-up visits, hospital records and telephone interviews) up to the age of 28 days. Results: There were 360(13.4%) LBW newborns in 2000 births and only 350 cases that could observe throughout the entire neonatal period. Ten cases were lost because they could not complete the follow-up due to logistical problems. That is why we analyzed the results of 350 children. The ratio of men to women was 1: 1.07. Gestational age analysis was born at 11(3.14%) <28 weeks and 134(38.29%) after 37 weeks of full pregnancy. Among the different types of LBW, 53.6% of premature babies have AGA and 7.8% SGA, and the term LBW is 38.4%. A detailed breakdown of the mass parameter showed that the majority of newborns 228(6.14%) were between 2.00-2.499 kg and only 15(4.29%) were less than 1kg. Early neonatal mortality was significantly higher than late neonatal mortality (p-value <0.005). When weight was used as the independent variable, the mortality rate was 90% for 1000 gm, 55.88% for 1000-1499 gm and 10.73% for 2000-2499 gm (p value < 0.005). Conclusion: Neonatal mortality is inversely proportional to birth weight. The neonatal mortality rate of infants with low birth weight is about four times higher than our national infant mortality rate. Most neonatal deaths occurred in the early neonatal period.