Risk factors on low birth weight in pregnant women of the municipality of Guanabacoa, in Havana, Cuba

Introduction: low birth weight is a major factor in more than 75% of the perinatal mortality. Objective: to characterize selected factors associated with the risk of low birth weight in pregnancy in the municipality of Guanabacoa, in Havana, Cuba; in the period January 2018 - December 2019. Method: a prospective, analytic, longitudinal evaluation study was carried out, with information gathered from medical records. The main variables measured were: maternal age; along with other risk factors for low birth weight as: pregnancy-induced hypertension, vaginal discharge syndrome, urinary tract infection, smoking, short birth intervals, previous preterm labors and edema. Results: the mean age of the patients with low birth weight newborns was 26.7 years of age (p=0.00). The proportion of pregnant women with risk factors was higher in those with low birth weight (p = 0.00); among those factors, the most common were vaginal discharge syndrome (73.0%) and smoking (43.0%). It was found that the more deeply related factor with the risk of a low birth weight newborn were the vaginal discharge syndrome (OR 18.2) and the short birth intervals (OR 11.6). Conclusions: the proportion of pregnant women with some of the selected risk factors was higher on low birth weight newborn cases.