Intermittent presumptive treatment of malaria to prevent low birth weight in newborns in a cohort of pregnant women from a malaria endemic area.

Abstract/Overview

Objective: To determine and describe the patterns of low birth weight in newborns of a cohort of mothers given intermittent presumptive treatment (IPT) for malaria prevention in a malaria endemic area of Kenya. Design: A longitudinal prospective cohort study. Setting: Got Agulu Health Centre in Usigu Division, Bondo District, Nyanza Province. Subjects: Pregnant women of all parities attending antenatal care services. Only women who gave informed consent for themselves and their newborns after birth were eligible to participate in the study. Results: Parity was highly predictive of birth weight in the study subjects. Primigravidae and secondigravidae had a significantly lower mean birth weight (2952g) than women of higher gravidity (3214g) p-value