Prevalence and severity of anemia among pregnant women in primary health centers/Erbil City

Abstract

Anemia in pregnancy is a major public health problem, especially in developing countries. Nutritional anemia is the most common type of anemia worldwide and mainly includes iron, folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin C deficiencies. Iron deficiency contributes to half of the burden of anemia globally. The objectives of this study were to find out the prevalence and severity of anemia among pregnant women. A descriptive study was conducted on 600 pregnant women, during the period October 2015 to November 2016 at four primary health care centers in Erbil city. Data gathered through interview with study sample and filling questionnaire format and reviewing their antenatal records. Blood hemoglobin level was measured to assess the severity of anemia. Chi-square test and regression were used to analyze the data. Prevalence of anemia was 46.2%, and 67.1% of the anemic women had mild anemia. There was a significant association of severity of anemia with wife education and occupation, smoking, the number of abortions and cesarean section, ante partum hemorrhage, taking tablets of iron and folic acid per month. The study concluded that prevalence of anemia considered high in Erbil city, the highest percentage had mild anemia.

Pregnancy Related Risk Factors among Women Attending Duhok Obstetrics And Gynecology Hospital

“…According to the WHO recommendations in 2017, the global percentage of women of reproductive age suffering from anemia is (33%). More than one-fifth of our study participants had moderate anemia, while studies by al Shawi et al (2012) Baghdad and Abdulwahid & Ahmed (2017) in Erbil/Iraq included 600 pregnant women which they founds that found that half of studied pregnant women of reproductive age suffer from anemia, their results are higher than the global rates and our results. The reasons for these differences might be related to a variation in study methodology.…”

Effect of educational program based on theory of planned behavior on promoting nutritional behaviors preventing Anemia in a sample of Iranian pregnant women

“…Since pregnancy is considered as one of the most important periods in a woman’s life [ 7 ], iron deficiency anemia (IDA) has dangerous effects on mother and fetus and reduces fertility, preterm delivery, severe neonatal birth weight, increased spontaneous abortion, increased fetal mortality and postpartum hemorrhage [ 8 , 9 ]. In addition, the consequences of anemia in pregnant women affect the social and economic development of individuals [ 10 ]. Anemia can be caused by iron deficiency, impaired absorption, iron loss, or increased need for iron [ 11 ].…”