Prevalence and Risk Factors of Anemia in Pregnant Women in Wasit Province, Iraq

Abstract

The current study was aimed for determining the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women getting prenatal treatment, and to estimate the socioeconomic and obstetric variables in totally 425 pregnant women attended to Al-Zahraa Teaching Hospital outpatient clinic during July to November (2019). Based on hemoglobin, study population were divided into non-anemic (Hb>11 g/l) and anemic groups, and further subdivided into mild, moderate, and severe at a level of 10.0-11 g/dl, 7.0–9.9 g/dL, and <7.0 g/dL, respectively. The findings revealed that the prevalence rate of anemia was 58% at a level of £11 gm/dl. Maximum numbers of anemic women were in the age group 20-29 years (57.1%). Most of the anemic participants (50.2%), were mildly anemic (10-10.9 g/dl), at third trimester (40.8%), and having a poor antenatal care (46.9%). As well as, 42.4% of the anemic women were received a supplement throughout pregnancy period while 57.6% does not received. The dietary habits and nutritional analysis showed that 28.6% of the study anemic participants eat fresh fruit, vegetable and meat regularly during pregnancy, whereas 49.8 % of them eat rarely.

In conclusion, the prevalence of maternal anemia in our study was higher than showed in neighboring countries. Also, there was a significant relationship between the severity of anemia and antenatal care. Therefore, regular antenatal care, iron supplementation and health education should be encouraged as national programs to reduce the number of mothers affected by anemia.