Effect of Perceived Social Support on Neonatal Birth weight Among Mothers Who Delivered In Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: Perceived social support provides a broad range of Emotional, Informational, Instrumental, and companionship support. Some evidences showed perceived social support curtails to enhance good perinatal outcome. However, its effect on birth weight has not been studied in study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effect of perceived social support on neonatal birthweight among postnatal mothers in Jimma Medical Center. Objective: To assess the effect of perceived social support on neonatal birthweight among mothers who delivered in Jimma Medical Center, Jimma, southwest Ethiopia, 2024. Methods and materials: A facility-based retrospective cohort design was employed in the maternity ward of Jimma Medical Center, from March 10 to May 02, 2024. A total of 403 mothers were selected by using systematic sampling technique. The data were collected face to face by using semi-structured questionnaire. Then entered into epi info version 7.2 and exported to SPSS version 26 for data analysis was used to compare perceived social support and birth weight. Linear regression analysis was used to investigate the association between variables and at a P value of 0.05 along 95% CI was declared statistically significant. Results: The study revealed higher mean birth weights among infants of mothers with greater social support (3120g high vs 2710g for low support, p<0.001). Each unit increase in Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support score was associated with 67.3g increase in birth weight (β=67.3, 95% CI: 37.5-116.7). Additionally, positive predictors like being married (β=23.2 ,95% CI :13.3-45.7), college or above education (β=14.8, 95%CI: 6.7-432.3), higher monthly income (β=31.3 ,95% CI: 10.6-73.5), planned pregnancy (β=45.2 ,95% CI: 24.7-81.6), and negative predictors drug usage during pregnancy (β=-23.9 ,95% CI: -39.4,-13.5), and primiparity (β=-4.2 ,95% CI: -8.2,-2.9) were identified. Conclusion: This study provides that maternal social support significantly influences birth weight outcomes in Ethiopia. The findings highlight that enhancing social support systems could help reduce the high prevalence of low-birth-weight infants in this population which requires focus of health workers and institution. Therefore, healthcare systems should integrate social support assessments into routine antenatal care and develop targeted interventions to strengthen support network for pregnant women.