Nutritional Status of Pregnant Women and Newborns in a Secondary Referral Health Care Setting of India

Background: Maternal nutrition status is an important determinant of pregnancy outcomes since pre-pregnancy underweight has been traditionally considered a risk factor for adverse gestation outcomes. Objectives: The current study aims to offer updated information on the nutrition status of pregnant women and newborns to facilitate the development of health care protocols based on current knowledge. Materials and methods: The current prospective, observational study of six months descriptively assessed the nutrition status in a cohort sample of 220 pregnant women, in which vital parameters, treatment, laboratory parameters, anthropometric details, food habits and intake were obtained and documented during their regular clinical visits. During the study period all the health information’s were documented and assessed. Statistical tool used was WHO Nutri Survey 2007 calculator. Results: The study observed nearly 80.45% of pregnant women were within age group of 20–30 years, illiteracy population was 35.45%. In our study, 78.19% of pregnant women were anaemic, and an overall distribution of 60.45% pregnant women within BMI of 18.5-25. In the present study the mean ± SD calorie and protein intake of the study subjects per day was found to be 1839.8 ± 250.2 Kcal and 63.1 ± 7.2 g. The prevalence rate of low birth weight during the study period was 87.43%. Conclusion: Low birth weight in India has been attributed to widespread maternal undernutrition. A better understanding of the relationship of birth size to maternal nutrition is critical for planning effective intervention to improve birth weight in Indian babies unless we perform extensive researches.