Correlation of birth and placental weights amongst Hausa parturients in Kano

摘要

The aim of this study is to establish the relationship of birth weight to the placental weight of our ethnic community which until now is to our knowledge unavailable. All the studied 500 live births and their placentas were products of single gestation at term.This is a prospective study of 500 healthy term placentae of the Hausa ethnic group parturients. Each of the placentas was cleansed of blood clots and trimmed of umbilical cord near its attachment and its weight determined using the triple beam balance. The weight of each new born was determined using birth weight weighing balance. The data were recorded and analyzed using Minitab 16 software and Pearson’ Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the relationship between the weights. Regression equation was also developed.The placental weight had a mean of 471.2 g (SD: 70.9 g), mean of birth weight was 2862.6 g (SD: 443 g). The results showed a statistically significant correlation between the placenta and the birth weight using the Pearson’s correlation (r = 0.845, P & 0.001). Birth weight-placenta ratio was 6.1 (SD: 0.6). From the scatterplot (birth weight versus placenta), the birth weight has a linear relation to the placental weight.We therefore conclude that the Hausa ethnic group parturients have a lower placental weight birth/weight ratio (as compared to those reported in the literature), possibly due to socio-economic, environmental or racial differences.