Relationship Between Maternal Nutritional Status and Low Birth Weight at Airlangga University General Hospital: A Case Control Study

Erinda Fairuz Ramadhani¹, Widati Fatmaningrum^2*, Budi Prasetyo³, Mahendra Tri Arif Sampurna⁴

Abstract

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) is a vital benchmark in neonatal health assessment, given its direct link to elevated newborn illness and death rates. The energy and food reserves needed to sustain metabolic adaptation, placental expansion, and early fetal development may be shown by a mother’s pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), which is an indicator of her nutritional state before pregnancy. The link between BMI before pregnancy and LBW, however, is still poorly understood. Objective: To analyze the relationship between pre-pregnancy BMI and the incidence of LBW at Airlangga University General Hospital in 2025. Methods: This retrospective case–control design examined 60 participants (comprising 30 LBW subjects and 30 normal-weight controls) recruited via consecutive sampling. Information was extracted from patient medical charts. Statistical assessments utilized Chi-square with odds ratio (OR), independent t-test, multivariate logistic regression, Kruskal–Wallis test, and post hoc Mann–Whitney with Bonferroni correction. Results: A highly meaningful correlation emerged between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and LBW (p<0.001). Underweight mothers faced a 16.789 times greater probability of delivering LBW infants than non-underweight counterparts. Average BMI values varied substantially between the case and control cohorts (p<0.001). Multivariate modeling confirmed pre-pregnancy BMI as the primary determinant tied to LBW (OR=12.176; p=0.026). Furthermore, birth weight distribution differed significantly across maternal BMI strata (p<0.001), particularly between underweight vs. overweight/obese cohorts and normal vs. obese cohorts. Conversely, no statistically significant variations were found within the underweight cohort itself.

Keywords

pre-pregnancy BMI; underweight; low birth weight; maternal nutrition status.

Cite This Article

Ramadhani, E. F., Fatmaningrum, W., Prasetyo, B., Sampurna, M. T. A. (2026). Relationship Between Maternal Nutritional Status and Low Birth Weight at Airlangga University General Hospital: A Case Control Study. International Journal of Scientific Advances (IJSCIA), Volume 7| Issue 4: Jul – Aug 2026, Pages 452-457 URL: https://www.ijscia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Volume7-Issue4-Jul-Aug-No.1062-452-457.pdf

Volume 7 | Issue 4: Jul – Aug 2026