Evaluation of infants with birth weight less than 2500 g admitted to health centers of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences,1990

Introduction: Birth weight is one of the most important determinants of survival and growth is associated with child health. In addition to the high mortality rate, incidence of  mental retardation, paralysis, spinal cord injury, deafness, cerebral hemorrhage in low birth weight  are more.The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of infants born weighing less than 2,500 g (LBW) in women referred to health centers of the city of Mashhad in 2011. Method : This study was retrospective descriptive study. Information was collected from  38,823 birth mothers in urban and rural health centers in Mashhad city in 2011 , were analyzed using Excel software. Results : A total of 32,556 records , 38,823 mothers who had given birth in urban and rural was 6267. The number of babies born weighing less than 2500 grams were 1815 cases , 1489 in urban and 326 in rural areas . Therefore the percentage of babies born weighing less than 2,500 grams is equivalent to 4.67% of the entire city of Mashhad, the index equals 4.5% in urban areas and 5.2 percent in rural areas. Conclusion : Pregnant women at high risk should be identified and provided with the necessary training to prevent low birth weight infants.