Birth weight is an important indicator for assessing child health in terms of early exposure to childhood morbidity and mortality.
Described as a newborn with an excessive birth weight, fetal macrosomia has become one of the major public health concern because of its increased risks for both mothers and infants 12.The neonate is considered to be macrosomic when its birth weight is greater than 4000-4500 g or greater than 90% for gestational age 34. Thus, measuring the birth weight soon after delivery can be a fundamental tool for the diagnosis of the fetal macrosomia 5.Caesarean delivery, protracted labor, labor augmentation with oxytocin, and postpartum hemorrhage, infection, 3rd and 4th-degree perineal tears, thromboembolic events are well-known risks that macrosomic newborn poses to the mother 67. Whilst birth trauma (shoulder dystocia, brachial plexus injury, skeletal injuries), prenatal asphyxia, hypoglycemia, fetal death as well as increased risks of developing obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes later in life, are the risks of macrosomia in infants 3. Previous research has identified several risk factors associated with the causation of macrosomia. These include high pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI), excessive weight gain during pregnancy, gestational diabetes and fasting blood glucose, multiparty, male sex, parental height, and prolonged gestation 38.
A comprehensive understanding of the underlying risk factors is essential to inform well-designed preventive and management efforts. In Malawi, most efforts have been concentrated on under-nutrition as well as low birthweight in children under the age five. However, fetal macrosomia has received no attention despite its detrimental effects on childhood health outcomes. According to the Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS), Four percent of births are reported as very small, 12% as smaller than average, and 83% as average as or larger than average 9.
Thus, we aimed to investigate the factors associated with fetal macrosomia.
