Determinants for low birth weight in Asmara, Eritrea: A maternity hospital-based study

Introduction Weight at birth is a good indicator of the newborn’s chances for survival, growth, long-term health, and psychosocial development. This maternity hospitalbased study was done to determine factors affecting low birth weight (LBW) of neonates in Asmara, Eritrea. Methods A cross-sectional analytical study was used and a sample of 806 mother–neonate pairs who attended during the data collection period, were taken consecutively. Maternal and neonatal anthropometric measurements were taken; a standard questionnaire was utilized and maternal health card reviewed. Data were entered and cleaned in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 and exported to Stata version 14 for data analysis. Simple and multivariable logistic regression, using the Backward Stepwise Likelihood Ratio (LR) method, was employed; crude and adjusted odds ratios along with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated, and the level of significance was set at 0.05. Results Out of all the variables, 9 variables were retained in the final model. These variables were: sex of the neonate, number of ANC visits, gravidity, pre-pregnancy utilization of modern family planning methods, pregnancy related illnesses during current pregnancy, current body weight, current body height, gestational age in weeks, and paternal employment status. Conclusions Except for the sex of the neonate, all other variables could be considered as modifiable. It is therefore recommended that comprehensive ANC services should be strengthened and emphasis given to primigravida women to increase neonate birth weight.