Does effective counseling play an important role in controlling iron deficiency anemia among pregnant women

Abstract

Background: Anemia during pregnancy is a common problem in most developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (1968), iron deficiency anemia (IDA) was present in 40–99% of pregnant women. Although many government projects have been introduced to eliminate this public health menace, non-compliance of iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation due to various reasons made the projects unsuccessful. Hence, it is time to reexamine the problem of anemia in pregnancy, to assess more carefully the local etiological factors for prevailing and responsible for IDA, and then to design new strategies for prevention of the same. Aims and Objectives: The main of this study is to provide counseling to IDA pregnant women by effective communication and to study the impact of counseling on hematological indices. Materials and Methods: Pregnant women of rural population were first screened for IDA and then IDA women were grouped into experimental and control group. The experimental group women received counseling regarding benefits of regular IFA supplementation and good hygiene practices while the women in the control group were devoid of such counseling. Data on hematological parameters, hygiene practices, and IFA supplementation were taken from both groups and also after the end of the study. Data were then analyzed for statistical significance. Results: Our study showed statistically significant improvement in anemic status among pregnant women of the experimental group. Conclusion: In our study, it can be concluded that community-based interventions by means of effective communication help in improving anemic status in pregnant women.