Relationship Between The Predicted Birth Weight And Actual Birth Weight of Newborn

Abstract

Background: Fetal weight estimation is important in modern obstetrics. Certain conditions like diabetic pregnancy, vaginal birth after caesarean section and breech presentation is guided by predicted fetal weight. In developing countries perinatal mortality was high when compared to developed countries. An extensive proportion of this problem was primarily due to birth weight which considered to be the most important parameter which determines the neonatal survival. Aim: This study was aimed to identify the relationship between predicted birth weight and actual birth weight of newborn. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted among antenatal mothers at term in selected hospital of Puducherry who fulfill the inclusion criteria. Sample size was 35, selected through purposive sampling. The approach used was quantitative approach and design was descriptive research design. The researcher used Dare`s formula (SFH X AG) to predict the fetal weight and it is compared with actual birth weight of newborn. Result: Correlation coefficient was used to correlate the predicted birth weight with actual birth weight of new born. The value of correlation coefficient (r) was 0.85 which indicated that there was significant relationship between predicted birth weight and actual birth weight of newborn. Conclusion: The study revealed that Dare`s formula was a good indicator to predict the fetal weight. It is simple, easy and convenient method. This method can be used by the obstetrician and nurses in low resource setting where ultrasound facilities are not available and refer the patient to the tertiary level hospitals.