Abstract:
Background: Low birth weight has been defined by the World Health Organization as weight at birth of less than 2,500 grams (5.5 pounds). It is a good summary measure of a multifaceted public health problem that includes long-term maternal malnutrition, ill health and poor pregnancy health care. According to the 2016 EDHS report, only 14% of babies were weighed, and 13% of BW reports were less than 2,500 grams. The objective of this study is to determine the incidence and determinant factors of low birth weight infants’ survival in Jimma Medical Center, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Methodology: An Institutional based descriptive and analytical cross sectional study was conducted in Jimma town. The study included all mothers who gave birth to low birth weight infants in Jimma University Medical Center from September 11, 2022 to September 11, 2023. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the sampled mothers. The qualitative results were displayed by using frequency distributions, percentages, tables, charts and figures. Both uni-variate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were undergone to determine associations between dependent and independent variables.
Results: From the 243 low birth weight newborns, 25 (10.3%) weighed between 1,000-1499gm and 218 (89.7%) weighed in the range of 1500-2499gm. The overall survival rate is 85.2%; it is 24% for very low birth weight & 92.2% for low birth weight infants, respectively. Low birth weight infants who received routine newborn care have 20 fold higher chance of survival (p-0.001, AOR-20.957) compared to those who required advanced newborn care. The other determinant factors of survival among LBW infants were Apgar score of less than or equal to 7 at fifth minute (P=0.015); being infants with very low birth weight (P=0.007); and admission to neonatal ICU (P=0.041).
Conclusion and Recommendations: The prevalence of LBW is low. The overall rate of survival among LBW infants is low. It is recommended to strengthen ANC services and reduce premature deliveries. Education and awareness creation on maternal nutrition needs to be addressed further.
