Abstract

The study was done to assess the factors contributing to low birth weights among neonates born at JRRH. A
facility based retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study will be conducted at JRRH from October 2019 to
January 2020 among women delivering neonates during the study period. The study was done in Jinja Regional
Referral Hospital is located in the center of Jinja, not far from the Source of the Nile. The age distribution of
mothers, residence, marital status and tribe. The mean age of mothers was 18 (Range 13–18) with majority of
mothers aged 15– 19 years. Majority (62.0%) of mothers were married. Most (66.5 mothers were Baganda and the
least (4.5%) were Basoga. Majority (78.8%) were residing in urban areas while the least (21.2%) were residing in
rural areas. A total of 46/179 babies weighed below 2.5 kg, giving a prevalence of 25.7%. 133/179 (74.3%) of babies
weighed between 2.5–5.0 kg (Table 2). The overall mean birth weight was 2.9 (range 1.0–5.0 kg). Among low-birthweight
babies (< 2.5 kg), the mean was 2.1 (Range 1–2.4 kg). Among babies with birth weight 2.5–5.0 kg, the
mean birth weight was 3.1 (Range 2.5–5.0). There were slightly more female than male babies, (51.4%) and (48.6%)
respectively as shown in the table 2 below; Majority (77.7%) of the babies born were the first born and most of the
babies were delivered at term (83.8%). 5% of the babies had congenital anomalies. The prevalence of LBW among
our study population was high, 25.5%. Pre-term delivery and multiple pregnancies were associated with LBW.
Health workers should encourage teenage mothers to attend focused antenatal care as recommended by Ministry
of Health, Uganda. A specialized maternal facility Centre that is friendly for adolescent/teenage mothers is
advisable so as to improve on completion rates and handle high risk pregnancies.