Size of child at birth
(mn4)
File: Woman
Questions and instructions
Literal question
When your last child(name)was born,was he/she very large,larger than average,average,smaller than average,or very small?
Interviewer instructions
Low birth weight babies are at higher risk of serious illness or death than other babies.
Mothers are asked to give the baby's birth weight, and since some babies are not weighed
at birth, their subjective assessment of the baby's size at birth is important. When the
information from women who answer these questions is analyzed, we can obtain an
indication of what women mean by the subjective categories. This information can provide
an estimate of the average birth weight.
Read the entire question exactly as written before accepting an answer. This is the
woman's own opinion about the size of her baby. Even if she knows the child's birth weight,
tell her that you want to know her own idea of whether the baby was very large, larger than
average, average, smaller than average or very small. If the respondent is unable to tell
you, do not try to guess the answer based on the birth weight information or the
appearance of the baby; circle '9' for 'DK'. In cases when the woman knows the birth
weight of the baby and tells you the exact weight, do not use your judgment to influence her
response in this question. In other words, even if the woman tells you that her baby was
smaller than average while the birth weight she is stating is quite large in your opinion, do
not probe further to 'correct' the woman's perception of the size of the baby.
