Anemia among Pregnant Women in India

Dr Deepika Tiwari, Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, Sohna Road, Gurgaon      9911821669

According to WHO, the prevalence of Anaemia in pregnancy in south East Asia is around

56%. In India incidence of anaemia pregnancy has been noted as high as 40-80%.

Maternal risk due to Anemia : Poor weight gain. Pre term labours, Pregnancy Induced 

Hypertension , placenta previa,  eclampsia, premature rupture of membrane (PROM)  Postnatal 

sepsis, sub involution, embolism etc.

Risk to Foetus and Newborn : Complications include Prematurity, low birth weight, poor

Apgar score, fetal distress,  neonatal distress requiring prolonged resuscitation, and neonatal anemia due to poor reserve. Infants with anemia have higher prevalence of failure to thrive, poorer intellectual developmental milestones, and higher rates of morbidities and neonatal mortalities than infants without anemia.

Studies carried out in India and elsewhere have shown that iron deficiency is the major cause of anaemia followed by folate deficiency. In recent years, the contribution of B12 deficiency has been highlighted.

Anaemia and iron deficiency in the mother are not  associated with significant degree of anaemia in the children during neonatal period. However, iron stores in these neonates are low, iron content in breast milk in anaemic women is low and because of these factors substantial proportion of infants become anaemic by six months.

Unless effective screening of pregnant women is done for detection of anemic status, substantial 
reduction in maternal mortality and morbidity may not be lowered.

Ref : Indian J Med Res;