Does level of antenatal care affect birthweight? Study of a Central Anatolian Region.

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION: The objective of this research was to measure the impact of the level and quality of antenatal care (ANC) on the birthweight (BW) of hospital-born infants.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

This study was cross-sectional research. This study was conducted at the maternity hospital and a private hospital in the center of the province of Yozgat, Turkey. Women (N=788) were included in the research who had a singleton live delivery at hospitals.

RESULTS

It was found that adequate receipt of ANC was significant, although had little affect on BW; the number of ANC visits or whether ANC was adequate was not found to be significant. BW increased depending on primarily the mother's gestational age (GA) and then her age, height, and weight gained during pregnancy (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

It is GA that impacts BW primarily. It is recommended that necessary interventions be made to minimize the factors leading to preterm births.