Enhancing birth weight outcomes through improved antenatal care in West African countries: Evidence from propensity score matching analysis.

ABSTRACT: While many underlying causes of low birth weight (LBW, < 2500 grams) are preventable through overall antenatal care (ANC) uptake, limited empirical evidence exists in West Africa quantifying the impact of the WHO-recommended four or more visits (ANC4+) and eight or more visits (ANC8+) models using rigorous causal inference techniques. Thus, this study aimed to examine the causal effect of those two models on birth weight outcomes in West African countries using propensity score matching (PSM). This study included a weighted sample of 51,455 women sourced from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data from 14 West African countries (2012-2023). Covariates associated with treatments (ANC4+ and ANC8+) and birth weight were identified using Chi-square tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA

SUBMITTER: Hailegebireal AH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12633929 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature