Prevalence, Severity and Morphological Analysis of Anemia among Pregnant Women in a Tertiary Care Medical College and Hospital, Pondicherry

Abstract

Background: Anemia is one of the major health problems affecting both the developed as well as the developing countries. The prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in developing countries is about 51% according to World Health Organisation statistics. In India, National Family Health Survey -2 in 1998 to 99 shows that 54% of women in rural and 46% women in urban areas are anemics. Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the commonest type of anemia in pregnancy. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence, severity and Morphological analysis of anemia among pregnant women with emphasis on the early diagnosis and management Material & Methods: This was a retrospective, longitudinal cross sectional study conducted on all the pregnant women who attended the centre for ANC checkup for the first time at Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Science, Pondicherry from January 2018 to December 2018. The sample were analysed for the complete blood count including Hemoglobin concentration and RBC indices (MCV,MCH, MCHC) by automated Horiba analyser and Leishman stained peripheral smear of the blood sample were done for the morphological analysis. Results: Among the 320 pregnant women studied, the prevalence of anemia was found to be 60%. Out of these had 25% mild anemia, 30% had moderate anemia, 5 % had severe anemia according to WHO classification of anemia. Microcytic hypochromic anemia was found to be the most common morphological type o anemia (73%) Conclusions: The high prevalence of anemia (60%) indicates strict implementation of National Nutrition Anemia prophylaxis programme. This study emphasis on the prevalence and severity of anemia in pregnancy and their implications on the maternal and fetal outcome.