Who matters most? an analysis of the antenatal care provider towards birth weight
Date
2011-10
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Abstract
Low birth weight is defined as a weight of less than 2500 g irrespective of gestational age. It is one of the top five causes of infant mortality in the country. This paper aims to know the significance of antenatal care providers towards child's birth weight and to identify other risk- factors. Using a cross-sectional data from the National Demographic and Health Survey of2008, the results indicate that antenatal care provider (i.e doctors, midwife, hilot) is not a significant determinant of low birth weight as well as the timing of the first antenatal check-up. But an increase in the number of antenatal visits decreases the odds of a child being born small. Furthermore the results also show the significance of other factors such as age at birth, parity, birth interval and the mother's education. Maternal smoking and source of safe water are found to be insignificant predictor of infant's birth weight.
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Keywords
Antenatal, Infant mortality, Birth weight