Abstract:
The primary purpose of this study was to determine factors that
influence neonatal outcomes among obese parturients at the Korle-Bu
Teaching Hospital. It specifically set out to determine whether maternal
obesity had an influence on neonatal outcomes and to assess the
sociodemographic factors, obstetric characteristics, preexisting medical
disorders and obstetric complications that influenced neonatal outcomes.
This study was a cross sectional retrospective study which assessed
the medical records of 748 mothers who delivered at the Korle-Bu Teaching
Hospital, Accra. A data collection checklist was used to collect data. Chisquare
tests and odds ratios were used to analyze the data.
The main findings were that 28.3% of the parturients were obese. Birth
outcome remained statistically associated with maternal BMI. Obese mothers
were 40% less likely to have live births compared to those who were nonobese.
All the obese mothers had neonates with low Apgar scores after birth.
Maternal age, residence and antenatal visits were seen to be significantly
associated with birth outcomes. Obese mothers who suffered obstetric
complications were at a higher risk of being admitted to the neonatal intensive
care unit.
Maternal obesity is associated with higher risks of adverse neonatal
outcomes. The results of this study highlight maternal obesity as an important
public health concern in our country. More studies with larger sample sizes are
required to further augment these results.
