The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43420

Narayanan I. Valappil, PhD, University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, 7016 Candlewood Cir, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445, 763-424-9158, valappil@netscape.net and Gopal Narayan, MS, MPH, Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support, 250 S 4th Street- Room 510, Minneapolis, MN 55415.

Many studies have shown that birth weight is an important predictor of health outcomes. In this study we examined the association between low birth weight babies and the trimester when their mothers began prenatal care taking into account other cofactors like race, ethnicity, age, education, marital status, place of residence, and nativity of the mother.

Hennepin county birth records, 1996-1998, provided data on maternal and infant characteristics. There were a total of 46428 births to Hennepin County residents during that period. As a standard practice, babies weighing less than 2500 grams at birth are considered low birth weight babies. There were 3099 low birth weight babies (6.7%) in the county during this period. Of the total births, 18% were to mothers who did not receive care during their first trimester of pregnancy.

The odds of having a low birth weight baby was 1.4 times higher among mothers who did not receive prenatal care during her first trimester compared to mothers who received it. Among all independent variables examined, race, marital status, and nativity of the mother maintained a significant association with low birth weight in the full logistic regression model. Mutually adjusting for the independent variables, trimester when prenatal care began failed significantly to predict low birth weight outcomes.

The results indicate that race, ethnicity, and nativity of mothers have stronger association with low birth weight outcome than the time when they received prenatal care.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• To understand whether the time when prenatal care began is associated with low birth weight outcome.
• To understand the importance of race, marital status and the nativity of the mothers as factors associated to low birth weight babies.

Keywords: Birth Outcomes, Ethnicity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.