Effects of Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Pregnancy Outcome: A Single-Center Study

Abstract

Background: Maternal anaemia especially iron deficiency anaemia has become a common problem worldwide. It is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes like preterm birth, low birth weight and increases incidence of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Hence, this study aimed to find the association between maternal iron deficiency anaemia and pregnancy outcome. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Kumudini Women's Medical College, Tangail, Bangladesh. The study was conducted during the period of July 2019-January 2020. A total of 93 pregnant women were found to be anemic through this whole trial. Result: In this study, 52% patients had mild level anaemia, 32% had moderate and 16% had severe anaemia. Patients who had severe anaemia significantly suffered from preeclampsia (46.7%), PPH (26.7%), need a blood transfusion during/within 24 hours of delivery (100%), prolonged labor (53.3%), fetal distress (53.3%), placenta praevia (86.7%), low birth weight (86.7%), preterm delivery (40.0%), stillbirth (13.3%) and early neonatal death (within 24 hours) (13.3%). All the complications were strongly associated with severity of anaemia (p value=0.000) except prolonged labour (p-value=0.04). Conclusion: This study concludes that iron deficiency anaemia has significant impact on pregnancy outcome. Hence, iron supplementation can be an effective way for improving IDA among the pregnant anaemic women. Also, proper antenatal care is important so that early detection and treatment of IDA can be possible.