Maternal and severe anaemia in delivering women is associated with risk of preterm and low birth weight: A cross sectional study from Jharkhand, India

Abstract

Background and objectives Haemoglobin content is the well accepted indicator for anaemia assessment. The high prevalence of anaemia, maternal health care issues and adverse delivery outcome in Jharkhand, we investigated whether delivering women with anaemia would present a modifiable risk of preterm (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW). Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study involving pregnant women, with screening for pregnancy endpoints and haemoglobin assay, were conducted. Anaemia was classified according to World Health Organization's definition of anaemia in pregnancy. Confounding variables were adjusted in a logistic model. The adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used for analyzing the association among maternal anaemia, PTB and LBW. Results We observed a high prevalence of anaemia (78.45%) in delivering women, whereas high prevalence of preterm birth (34.75%) and LBW (32.81%) in delivering women overall. In the adjusted analysis, overall anaemia in pregnancy was strongly associated with preterm birth (OR, 3.42; 95% CI, 1.98–5.88; P ≤ .0001 ) as compared to LBW (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.65–1.61; P = .0003 ). The risk of PTB and LBW were dependent on the stratification of the anaemia group, as the strongest association was observed in severe (OR, 4.86) followed by mild (OR, 3.66) and moderate (OR, 3.18) anaemia in PTB; whereas risk of LBW was found in severe (OR, 2.5) followed by moderate (OR, 1.11) and mild (OR, 0.57) anaemia. The risk of PTB and LBW across six pregnancy haemoglobin groups were compared, haemoglobin of 10–10.9 g/dl (OR, 1.25) and ≤ 8 g/dl (OR, 1.03) have shown association with PTB and LBW, respectively. However, high haemoglobin concentration was not associated with either PTB or LBW. Conclusions Anaemia in delivering women was associated with an elevated risk of PTB and LBW and the risk increased with the severity of anaemia in pregnant women.

A multicenter study of the prevalence and risk factors of malaria and anemia among pregnant women at first antenatal care visit in Ghana

“…This reinforces the need for the continuous and consistent distribution and ownership of ITNs to be encouraged and strengthened, particularly among such vulnerable groups as pregnant women. Anemia in pregnancy still is a major public health problem and it is associated with maternal death, still births, low birth weights and impairment of fetal development [13,17]. Our finding of a 42.4% prevalence of anemia among pregnant women is in keeping with the global estimate of more than 40% [10], the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in this study was 42.4%.…”

“…Anemia in pregnancy still is a major public health problem and it is associated with maternal death, still births, low birth weights and impairment of fetal development [ 13 , 17 ]. Our finding of a 42.4% prevalence of anemia among pregnant women is in keeping with the global estimate of more than 40% [ 10 ], the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in this study was 42.4%.…”

“…Malaria accounts for an estimated 3–15% of anemia and 25% of severe anemia in pregnant women from malaria-endemic countries [ 9 ]. Anemia in pregnancy is also a contributing factor for maternal death, still births, low birth weights, and impairment of fetal development [ 17 ].…”

Nutritional status and birth outcomes among pregnant teenagers in Ghana

“…Anaemia prevalence was not signi cantly associated with birth outcome, but anaemic mothers had higher low birth weight. In contrast to our ndings, studies done in Ghana, China and India have reported that iron de ciency anemia was signi cantly associated with low birth weight and preterm birth among pregnant adults [43,63,64]. Maternal low serum levels of prealbumin, ferritin, and vitamin A were found non-signi cantly higher among low birth weight participants than normal birth weight participants.…”

<p>Micronutrients Deficiency and Their Associations with Pregnancy Outcomes: A Review</p>

“…The global prevalence of anemia among children and WRA in different regions of the globe indicated that more than half of the pregnant women and young children are anemic in South East Asia, West Pacific and Africa. 26,131 In developed countries, pregnant women and young children are at risk of iron deficiency and widespread enrichment of common foods such as cereals and wheat flour have been identified as successful control of ID. A systematic review had found that pregnant women who received MMN had fewer LBW and SGA than those who received only iron, with or without folic acid; 28 with also decreased six-month infant mortality than IFA alone with the effect being great in low BMI pregnant and anemic women 20 ; while another study indicated a reduction of infant death than the IFA group with the effect more pronounced in anemic-low BMI women.…”