Low birth weight in Tasmania 1975-1983: the effect of socioeconomic status.

An analysis of all births in Tasmania from 1975 to 1983 showed that social class differences in low birth weights were almost entirely restricted to infants between 1500 and 2500 g weight at birth. There was a marginal increase in very low birth weight infants (less than 1500 g) among women whose partners were unemployed or in unskilled work but extremely low birth weight infants (less than 1000 g) were evenly distributed across the whole social spectrum.