[Pregnancies complicated by hemorrhage and birth of low birth weight infants in Cotonou (Benin)].

The effect of bleeding during pregnancy on the outcome remains unclear. Nevertheless, some of these pregnancies go to term, raising the question of the effects on the new-born infant. The data concerning a possible correlation with low birth weight are ambiguous. Furthermore, there are few studies of this issue in developing countries. We studied 2168 women giving birth to single children chosen at random in two maternity services in Cotonou (Benin) in 1990. Data was collected by two trained midwives interviewing the women and from the medical files 24 hours after delivery. One hundred and thirty seven mothers (6.2%) reported bleeding during pregnancy. Multivariate statistical analysis indicated that this was associated with preterm birth of low birth weight infants: OR = 4.09 (2.2-7.6) for bleeding during the first trimester, OR = 2.29 (1.1-6.9) during the second and OR = 4.79 (2.1-11.9) during the third. Only bleeding during the third trimester correlated with a significant retardation of intrauterine growth [OR = 2.33 (1.4-7.3)] according to model fitting. Thus, despite possible bias in this retrospective study, bleeding during pregnancy appears to be a predictor of low birth weight in Cotonou (West Africa).