Title: A study of prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in rural area of Jabalpur
Authors: Dr Sakshi Mishra, Dr Rohit Chaturvedi
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v6i12.04
Abstract
Background: Nutritional anemia is the most common type of anemia worldwide. The anemia in pregnant women may causes increased risk of intra-uterine growth retardation or prematurity, perinatal and neonatal mortality, inadequate iron stores for the newborn, increased risk of maternal morbidity and mortality, and lowered physical activity, mental concentration, and productivity. The Government of India recommends a minimum dose of total 100 tablets containing 60 mg of elemental iron and 100mcg folic acid to be prescribed during pregnancy. However, prevalence of anemia is still 53% among women of reproductive age group, despite the availability of this effective, low-cost intervention for prevention and treatment .Therefore the present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women in rural area of Jabalpur.
Methods: The present study was carried out at Sukh Sagar medical college, Jabalpur. 270 antenatal women attending ANC OPD were recruited in the study. After taking Informed consent, the pregnant women were interviewed with the predesigned proforma. Socioeconomic status assessed, Gestational age calculated. The height and weight were measured. Thorough general physical examination along with per abdominal examination was carried out. Basic routine investigations were performed followed by Hemoglobin level measurement.
Results: Overall prevalence of anemia among pregnant women was found to be 54.8%. Maximum women suffering from anemia were in the age group 30 years and above (88.9%). It was found that with lower socioeconomic status and increase in parity, the probability of suffering from anemia also increased. This relationship was found to be statistically significant (P <0.05)
Conclusions: Anemia still continues to be a major public health problem in India causing maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. high parity, less spacing, low income, low educational status and low socioeconomic status etc. are the major barriers to the efforts for the prevention of anemia during pregnancy
Keywords: Anemia in pregnancy, haemoglobin, socio-economic status, parity.
