Nazeer Khan, Syeda Maria Hassan, Hamza Sohail, Zainab Rafat, Abeer Iftikhar.
Effect of Fasting of Expected Mothers on Birth Weight of Newborn in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Karachi.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;62(1):19-23.

Background: Dietary limitations and improper time of rest during Ramadan of expected mothers could influence the health of newborns, especially the birth weight. Objective: To determine the effect of Ramadan fasting on fetal birth weight. Study type, settings & duration: This prospective study was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi during May-June 2019 (Ramadan 1440 Hijri).    Methodology:  After taking informed written consent, pregnant females visiting the Obstetrics and Gynecology ward of JPMC in Ramadan for pre-natal examination were enrolled. A pretested questionnaire was used to gather information regarding, demographics, medical history, family history, number of days of fasting and information of the fetus was recorded. Pregnant female were divided in three groups: Non- fasting (Group 1),   Mothers with less than 19 days of fasting (Group 2), and mothers with more than of 20 days of fasting (Group 3).   Results: Complete information of 477 pregnant women was obtained. Amongst them, 149 (31.2%) were in Group 1, 225 (47.2%) were in Group 2, and 103 (21.6%) were in Group 3. None of the demographic variable showed any significant association with fasting mothers of three groups, except history of hypertension. Mean birth weight of newborns of mothers of Group 2 was 83 grams lower and of mothers of Group 3 were 103 grams higher than the weight of newborn of the mothers of Group 1. But these differences were statistically insignificant. Statistically insignificant differences were also observed in each trimester. Conclusion: Fasting of pregnant mothers during Ramadan .........

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