Birth Weight of Newborn in Relation to Maternal Weight Gain and Haemoglobin Level

Birth weight is one of the most important and reliabie parameters in the evaluation of fetal and neonatal well-being. Birth weight below 2.5 kg has been found to be very closely associated with poor growth, not just in infancy but throughout the childhood. Birth weight can be affected by various factors including those related to fetal, placental, maternal and environmental origin. Low birth weight and proportionate smallness at birth is associated with poor cognitive function in early childhood. Low birth weight babies are 5 to 6 times more likely to die during infancy compared to normal birth weight babies.