Clinical Surveillance of Femoral Length of Term Babies Born of Nigerian Parents at Birth

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of maternal status, position/parity and sex of the baby at birth on the length of femur in UPTH and BMH, Port Harcourt. Maternal status included educational level, age, and occupation of the mother. A total of 140 singleton babies (65 males and 75 females) were randomly selected for this study. The length of femur at birth ranged from 8cm to 14cm with mean ± SEM of 11.42±0.09 i.e. standard error of mean (SEM). 65 of the babies were males with mean ± SEM of 11.45+0.13 and 75 were females with mean ± SEM of 11.40±0.13. The result showed that the relationship between the length of femur at birth and the maternal status i.e. educational level, age and occupation was not significant (p>0.05). Also, the relationship between the length of femur at birth and the position/parity and sex of the baby at birth was not significant (p>0.05). This study has shown that although the length of femur at birth have no significant effect on the maternal status, position and sex of baby at birth, it may be of good parameter in the assessment of a newborn when used as one of the parameters for the assessment of a newborn.