Maternal anaemia and its impact on perinatal outcome.
OBJECTIVE
To find out the relationship between maternal anaemia and perinatal morbidity and mortality.


METHODS
A cohort of 629 pregnant women was studied from October 2001 to October 2002. Of these, 313 were anaemic (haemoglobin <11 g/dl in labour and on two previous occasions in current pregnancy). A total of 316 women had haemoglobin >11 g/dl at all times in pregnancy and were labelled as non-anaemic. Perinatal outcomes included preterm delivery, low birth weight (LBW) at delivery, intrauterine growth restriction, perinatal mortality, APGAR score at 1 and 5 min, intrauterine foetal demise (IUD).


RESULTS
The risk of preterm delivery and LBW among exposed group was 4 and 1.9 times higher among anaemic women, respectively. Newborns of anaemic mothers had 1.8 times increased risk of having an APGAR score of <5 at 1 min and the risk of IUD was 3.7 times higher for anaemic women.


CONCLUSIONS
Low maternal haemoglobin levels are associated with increased risk of preterm delivery, LBW babies, APGAR score <5 at 1 min and IUD.
Lone
Farah Wali
FW
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. farahwali@21@yahoo.com
Qureshi
Rahat Najam
RN
Emanuel
Faran
F
D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia; D001034:Apgar Score; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011250:Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors