Weight Gain and Pregnancy Outcome in Adolescent and Adult Mothers in Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

This study determined the relationship between maternal weight gain and pregnancy outcomes among adolescent and adult mothers in Ilorin, Nigeria. A retrospective review of 1,770 case-notes of adolescent and adult mothers who booked for antenatal care and delivered in the three selected maternity hospitals in Ilorin between January 2008 and December 2012 were used for this study. A record review was used to obtain information on the maternal sociodemographic characteristics, maternal variables such as weight gain at second and third trimester, packed cell volume (PCV) and infant birth weight. The data were analyzed using chi-square, student t-test and Spearman's correlation. All the adolescents were primipara while 66.9% of the adult mothers were multipara. The highest educational status attained by 89.2% of the adolescent mothers was secondary school education while 35.4% had tertiary education. The mean birth weight of infants of the adult mothers was higher than that of adolescent mothers (p< 0.05) and the mean maternal weight gain in adolescent mothers was significantly higher than in adult mothers (p< 0.05). Proportion of infants with LBW was significantly higher among the adolescent mothers (p< 0.05) than in adult mothers. Parity, maternal age, religion, occupation and PCV were observed to have significant positive and strong association with infant birth weight (r= 0.457, 0.663, 0.727, 0.590, 0.468 respectively; p<0.01). A strong association was also observed between maternal weight gain and infant birth weight (r= 0.816; p<0.01). Adolescent mothers are at higher risk of delivering infants with LBW compared to the adult mothers, inspite of the higher maternal weight gain. Therefore, adolescent pregnancy should be discouraged or adequate weight gain should be ensured because children born with low birth weight are prone to stunted growth, cognitive challenges and chronic diseases in later life.

Key words: Adolescent mothers, adult mothers, birth weight, pregnancy outcomes, Nigeria.