Studies on the nutritional status of expectant mothers and newborn babies.

To explore the relationshop between maternal health status and infant vitality selected physical nutritional and biochemical parameters were measured in 157 pregnant women and 71 newborn infants at the Azimpur Maternity Center in India. The pregnant women had a mean height of 150 cm anda mean weight of 47.5 kg. The 3rd-trimester hemoglobin level averaged 10.53% for women in their 1st pregnancy 9.84% for 2nd pregnancies 10.04% for 3rd pregnancies and 10.36% for 4th pregnancies. Both average total protein and packed cell volume remained relatively constant with increases in parity. The prevalence of combined moderate and severe anemia was 42.8% for women in their 1st pregnancy 48% for 2nd pregnancies 42.9% for 3rd pregnancies 41.2% for 4th pregnancies 47% for 5th pregnancies and 43.3% for women with 6 or more pregnancies. Overall 66% of the women had hemoglobin levels below 11 gm% and could be considered anemic. The concentration of the severe cases of anemia in the 1st 3 pregnancies may reflect the early age of childbearing in this series (average age at 1st pregnancy 18.2 years) forcing the fetus and mother to compete for nutrients. The increased incidence of anemia with increasing parity is attributed to the gradual drain on maternal nutritional reseves. Unusually high globulin fractions were recorded in these women perhaps due to the superimposed evironmental infective factors common in India. The mean birth length among infants in the study was 47.6 cm for males and (3.02 kg for males and 3.08 kg for females) was significantly lower than Western standards reflectinbg the low weight of Indian women. Mean hemoglobin and total protein levels among the infants were within normal limits.