Babies born small can experience health challenges from the very beginning. A recent Khalifa University study identifies three factors that seem to contribute: born early, an underweight mother and high blood pressure during pregnancy.

The study involved 711 mothers and their babies at four hospitals in Abu Dhabi. As you might expect, the largest factor contributing to low birth weight is premature delivery, with close to 28 times higher odds of having low birth weight. Low birth weight means the infant would weigh less than 2.5 kilograms.

Underweight mothers had nearly six times higher odds of giving birth to a low-birth-weight baby, and high blood pressure during pregnancy increased the odds more than fourfold.

The study also produced some unexpected potential low-birth-weight links, like the pregnancy timing and previous family-planning visits. These findings are fueling the next level of the study, which will include IVF, pregnancy weight gain and previous pregnancies that the researchers hope will fill in the missing pieces.

While the first phase of this research involved four hospitals, the next aims to include more than 90 percent of Abu Dhabi’s birthing hospitals.

The ultimate goal is to offer governing health bodies clearer and more comprehensive information about pregnancy and newborn health within the Emirate, ultimately bringing to light how such simple interventions as nutrition and blood-pressure monitoring might make the biggest differences.

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