Low birth weight and associated maternal risk factors in patients of the "Pedro Borras" University Polyclinic

Introduction: low birth weight is considered to be any newborn who at the time of delivery weighs less than 2500g, whatever the cause and regardless of the duration of gestation. Objective: to describe the maternal risk factors associated with low birth weight at the "Pedro Borrás Astorga" University Polyclinic in the city of Pinar del Rio between January 2020 and May 2022. Methods: a descriptive, prospective longitudinal research was carried out on 24 mothers whose product of conception was a low birth weight neonate, at the Pedro Borras University Polyclinic, from a universe of 529 live births in the period from January 2020 to May 2022, to whom a survey was applied to identify the main risk factors that intervened in its incidence. Results: the maternal risk factors associated with low birth weight were: maternal age, pregnancy without a stable partner, medium school level, smoking as a toxic habit, short inter-gestational period, preterm delivery, chronic pathologies prior to gestation such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension and conditions associated with pregnancy, with emphasis on genitourinary infections and nutritional anemia. Conclusions: despite being a small sample, it was possible to establish a significant association between the risk factors found and the occurrence of low birth weight.