Association of Maternal Nutrition, Birth Outcomes, and Infant Health in Pregnant Women

Abstract

Maternal nutrition plays a key role in fetal development, birth outcomes, and early infant nutrition. A quantitative correlational study was conducted to determine the relationship between maternal nutritional status, birth outcomes and infant health measurements. The total sample size of 200 pregnant women attending Antenatal clinics was purposively selected. The information was collected using a structured questionnaire and clinical record review on the following topics: dietary intake, anthropometric nutritional status, birth weight, gestational age at delivery, neonatal features at birth. Data collection technique used in the study was descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, Cronbachs alpha reliability analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Items were highly reliable with values ranging from .78 to .83. The maternal nutritional status was positively associated with birth outcomes (r = .62, p < .001) while the birth outcomes was positively associated with the infant health (r = .65, p < .001). Both direct (β = .22) and indirect (β = .34) pathways for maternal nutritional status to impact infant health were identified through the mediation of birth outcomes (total β = .56), with SEM supporting the latter. Model fit was acceptable (χ²/df = 1.94; CFI = .97; RMSEA = .056). The results highlighted the crucial role of evidence-based nutrition counselling and supplementation programmes during pregnancy in positively influencing health outcomes for birth and infants, especially in maternal and child health in low-resource countries where nutritional deficiencies are still common.