الفهرس 
Birth Weight
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Abstract
Inter-pregnancy interval (IPI) is defined as the period
between delivery of the previous infant and conception of
the current pregnancy. This definition excludes miscarriage
as a preceding pregnancy event. Both short and long
intervals between pregnancies have been associated with
increased risk of a number of adverse perinatal outcomes,
such as preterm birth, low birth weight, small size for
gestational age, and perinatal death.
Birth spacing has become a major health promotion
program strategy for mothers and children in recent
decades in developing countries. The interpregnancy
interval (IPI) has been reported to influence the outcome of
pregnancy and birth. The relationship between the
interpregnancy interval and perinatal health is receiving
increasing attention. Perinatal mortality is an indicator of
poor obstetric care. Women who become pregnant soon
after completing a pregnancy are considered to be at high
risk for the delivery of a low birth weight (LBW, <2500
gram) infant.
Birth weight is the first weight of the fetus or
newborn obtained after birth. For live births, birth weight should preferably be measured within the first hour of life,
before significant postnatal weight loss has occurred.
Globally birth weight has been accepted as single most
important determinant of future chances of survival,
healthy growth, freedom from morbidities and mortalities
of infants. Low birth weight is a widely used indicator of
new-born health. Low birth weight is defined as less than
2,500 g (up to and including 2,499 g).
This study was held at Ain Shams University
Maternity Hospital on 2000 patients ranging between the
ages of 18-47 years, and IPI ranging from 1-231 months.
Results showed that the incidence of LBW among patients
with IPI >18months was 16.2%, which was more than
doubled, reaching 39.5%, among those with IPI
<18months. It was also found that the incidence of a short
IPI decreases with age, being more common among the
younger age group.
Parity, however, had no significant correlation with
IPI except Para1 which had a significantly higher incidence
of short IPIs. Maternal age also showed a small difference
between patients with short and long IPIs with patients
being generally younger in the short IPI group. Hb level observed as a secondary outcome showed a
direct relationship to short IPI, where the incidence of
anemia (defined in pregnancy as Hb level <10.5g/dl) was
significantly higher among patients with short IPI (57.9%)
compared to 36.8% in those with IPI >18 months. That is
still apparent even when the prevalence of anemia in the
population studied is already high (44.1%).
Another secondary outcome was the incidence of
preterm delivery. We found that patients who had short IPI
were more likely to delivery preterm (<37 completed weeks
of gestation), its incidence being 26.7% which is almost
double the incidence among those with longer IPIs
(14.3%).