Inequalities in Birth Weight in Relation to Maternal Factors: A Population-Based Study of 3,813,757 Live Births

Agnieszka Genowska, Radosław Motkowski, Vaiva Strukcinskaite, Paweł Abramowicz and Jerzy Konstantynowicz
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Agnieszka Genowska: Department of Public Health, Medical University of Bialystok, 15-295 Bialystok, Poland
Radosław Motkowski: Department of Pediatrics, Rheumatology, Immunology and Metabolic Bone Diseases, Medical University of Bialystok, University Children’s Hospital, 15-274 Bialystok, Poland
Vaiva Strukcinskaite: Faculty of Health Care, Vilnius University of Applied Sciences, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lithuania
Paweł Abramowicz: Department of Pediatrics, Rheumatology, Immunology and Metabolic Bone Diseases, Medical University of Bialystok, University Children’s Hospital, 15-274 Bialystok, Poland
Jerzy Konstantynowicz: Department of Pediatrics, Rheumatology, Immunology and Metabolic Bone Diseases, Medical University of Bialystok, University Children’s Hospital, 15-274 Bialystok, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Background: Despite numerous studies of women having children later in life, evidence of the relationship between maternal factors and newborn outcomes in Central and Eastern European countries is limited. This study aimed to examine the association between maternal age, biological determinants, including parity and sex of the newborn, demographic and social background, and birth weight in 3.8 million singleton live births in Poland. Methods: The effect of maternal age on birth weight (in grams and Z-scores) adjusted for confounders was assessed using Generalized Linear Models. Results: The mean (±SD) birth weights of neonates born to primiparous women and multiparous women were 3356.3 ± 524.9 g and 3422.7 ± 538.6 g, respectively, which corresponded to a Z-score of −0.07 ± 0.96 and 0.14 ± 1.00, respectively ( p ≤ 0.001). After controlling for biological, demographic, and social factors, a significant decrease in birth weight was found for primiparous women of the age group ≥30 years and multiparous women aged ≥35 years compared to the age group of 25–29 years. The lowest neonatal birth weight was observed in the case of women aged ≥45 years. Confounders did not affect birth weight Z-scores among primiparous women, whereas among multiparous women, together with educational factors, they reversed Z-scores from positive to negative values. The lower birth weight of neonates was overall associated with lower maternal education. Conclusions: Regardless of parity, advanced maternal age is strongly associated with a decreased neonatal birth weight, implying complications in early pregnancy and the antenatal period as well as obstetric complications. Counseling to support women’s family planning decisions and improving women’s education during their reproductive age may help to alleviate unfavorable newborn outcomes.

Keywords: weight at birth; Z-score; newborn; advanced maternal age (AMA); parity; educational level; Poland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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