OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for insufficient birth weight, in the Brazilian city of Campinas from the Live Birth Certificates. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted consulting data from 14,444 Live Birth Certificates from the year 2001. These newborn birth weights ranged from 285g to 5,890g (mean 3,142g), 65.1% of them weighted 3,000g or more, while 25.7% had insufficient weight. A sample of 12,779 term newborn from single pregnancies, with a birth weight > 2,500g was selected. Birth weight was the dependent variable and maternal, pregnancy, delivery and newborn characteristics were the independent variables. Association among variables was assessed by Chi-square test, crude odds-ratio (OR) was calculated. For adjusted odds-ratio (adjOR) values, a logistic regression model was used. RESULTS: Results showed association between insufficient birth weight and newborn of the female gender (adjOR = 1.57 [95%CI 1.44 - 1.70]), birth from primiparous mothers (adjOR = 1.47 [95%CI 1.35 - 1.60]), inadequate prenatal care (adjOR = 1.42 [95%CI 1.29 - 1.58]) and vaginal delivery (adjOR = 1.23 [95%CI 1.13 - 1.34]). CONCLUSION: The risk for insufficient birth weight was higher for female newborn, offspring of primiparous women, of women who had inadequate prenatal care and had vaginal delivery.
Birth weight; Newborn; Live birth; Risk factors
