HIV and antenatal care attendance in relation to low birth weight among women delivering at Mulago Hospital, Kampala Uganda

Antenatal care (ANC) prevents adverse pregnancy outcomes by providing women with interventions like HIV testing that is vital to the baby's or maternal health. Low birth weight (LBW ;< 2500g) is a public health problem associated with infant morbidity, mortality and high costs. In Uganda, few studies have examined the relationship between ANC attendance and pregnancy outcomes; therefore, the purpose of this research was to describe this association.

A cross-sectional study of randomly selected medical charts of women (n=600) who delivered at Mulago Hospital, Uganda, April- May, 2006 was done. A standardized abstraction form was used for data collection. Women who delivered before arrival or delivered multiples were excluded. Chi-square tests and t-tests were used to compare outcomes among those who sought ANC and those who did not.

The mean (standard deviation; SD) maternal age was 22.7(5.3), 9% of women were HIV positive, and 6% had unknown HIV status. In this study, 65% (n=393) of the women attended ANC; of these 20% (n=120) made four or more visits. The mean (SD) number of ANC visits was 1.9 (1.9). There were 561 livebirths (93.5%); among these the prevalence of LBW was 7.5% (n=45), Mean (SD) Apgar score was 8.8 (2.7). Results stratified by ANC and HIV status will be shown for this presentation.

Although 65% of women attended ANC, most women made less than 4 ANC visits recommended by the Uganda Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. Effective interventions to increase the ANC attendance are needed in this population.