3436 Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, July-September 2021, Vol. 15, No. 3 Relationship of Complications During Pregnancy and Low Birth Weight in Indonesia: An Ecological Study Leonny Charisso 1 , Hario Megatsari 2 , AgungDwi Laksono 3 , Mursyidul Ibad 4 1 Magister Student, Master of Health Policy and Administration Faculty of Public HealthUniversitasAirlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia, 2 Lecturer, Faculty of Public Health, UniversitasAirlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia, 3 Researcher, National Institute of Health Research and Development, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia, 4 Lecturer, Faculty of Health, NadlatulUlama University, Surabaya, Indonesia Abstract Low birth weight is classifed as one of the children’s health problems in Indonesia. Theauthorsconducted a study to analyze the environmental factors associated with Indonesia’s low birth weight. Thestudy conducted an ecological analysis using secondary data from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia report in 2018. The study takes all provinces in Indonesia as samples.Besidesthe proportion of low birth weight, there were 3 other variables analyzed, the proportion of hypertension in pregnancy, the proportion of birth canal bleeding, and the proportion of amniotic fuid discharge. Data were analyzed using cross-tabulation.The results show that all three variables tend to affect the proportion of low birth weight and the previous studies. The study concluded that the three independent variables analyzed tend to correlate with the proportion of low birth weight in Indonesia. Keywords: low birth weight, hypertension in pregnancy,birth canal bleeding, discharge of amniotic fuid, ecological study Corresponding Author: Hario Megatsari Email: hario.megatsari@fkm.unair.ac.id Background Low Birth Weight is defned by the World Health Organization (WHO) as weight at birth less than 2500 grams (5.5 lb.). Low birth weightis a signifcant public health problem globally and is associated with its range of short- and long-term consequences (1) .More common in developing than developed country (2) .Across the world, neonatal mortality is 20 times more likely for low birth weight babies thannewborn babies (>2500 grams). The incidence of low birth weight is 16% worldwide, and Asia accounts for 75% worldwide (3) . Thepercentage of low birth weight in Indonesia itself based on the 2018 Basic Health Research Report from 2013 to 2018 is 6.2%. Several provinces are above this value, including Central Sulawesi province (8.9%),North Maluku province (8.7%), andGorontalo province(8.6%). Meanwhile, some provinces that are below this value are Jambi province (2.6%), North Sumatera province (4.2%) andWestSumatera province (4.6%) (4) . Low birth weight is associated with a more than 70% infant mortality rate (5) . Apart from mortality rate, low birth weight is also closely associatedwith fetal and neonatal morbidity, inhibited growth and cognitive development, and chronic diseases later in life. Birth weight should preferably be measured within the frst hour of life for live births before signifcant postnatal weight loss has occurred. The shorter the gestation, the smaller the baby and the higher the risk of death, morbidity, and disability. It has been shown that the mortality rate can vary 100-fold across the spectrum of birth weight and rises continuously with decreasing weight (2) .