This is a hospital based case control study in an attempt to determine the mean birth weight and the: percentage of low birth weight in Iraqi newborn babies in the current Situation and to compare the figures with those of the previous years, also to identify the risk factors that influence on the birth weight and the magnitude of effect of each one of them. The study was done in Saddam University Hospital during the period between the 14th of August 2000, till the 14th of April 2001. Data was collected through the interview of 511 randomly selected delivering women attending the obstetric department. The delivering women were of different age groups, different residence, different socioeconomic, nutritional and medical status. The interview was followed by examination of the anthropometric measures of the delivering women and their babies. Results of the study revealed that the mean birth weight at the period of study was 3039 gm ± 698 gm. The mean birth weight reduced sharply compared with the previous years, while the percentage of L.B.W. has increased, reflecting an alarming situation caused by the aggression and the blockade on Iraq. In addition to that, results of the study revealed a highly significant effect of some risk factors on birth weight at the 0.01 level. These are the following: Age and weight of the mother, spacing between pregnancies, gestational age, weight of the placenta and length of the baby. Other risk factors had a significant effect on birth weight at the 0.05 level, which are the following: Parity, presence of history of still birth or neonatal death, history of caesarian section and the level of random blood sugar. During the study it was also found that some risk factors had a - significant effect on the percentage of L.B. W. at the 0.051evel. These were: Weight of the mother at delivery, residence, previous obstetric history of still birth, neonatal death, history of three or more abortions. While risk factors for L.B. W. during the current pregnancy were: Fever,hypertension, multiple gestation, age of gestation, presence of gross anomaly of the fetus, length of the fetus and piacental weight. Diabetes was found to be a significant risk factor for macrosomia "High birth weight babies" at the 0.05 level.