Maternal Anemia during Pregnancy and Its Association with Preterm Birth

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association of preterm delivery with maternal anemia in Tertiary Care Hospital, Karachi. Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Study Setting: Study was conducted at Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi, Pakistan. Duration of Study: Six months from 3rd September, 2018 to 3rd March, 2019. Subjects and Methods: Data was prospectively collected from 90 patients. 45 patients were in the anemic group and 45 patients were in the non anemic group. Quantitative data was presented as simple descriptive statistics giving mean and standard deviation and qualitative variables were presented as frequency and percentages. Effect modifiers were controlled through stratification. Post stratification chi square was applied and p-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant. RR > 1 was considered significant. Results: In the anemic group, mean age of the patient was 28.82±3.65 years, gestational age at delivery was 36.97±2.58 weeks, booking hemoglobin was 9.79±0.84 g/dl, and delivery hemoglobin was found to be 9.73±1.19 g/dl. In the non-anemic group mean age of the patient was 29.57±5.83 years, gestational age at delivery 37.08±1.91 weeks, booking hemoglobin was 10.76±0.99 g/dl and delivery hemoglobin was found to be 10.75±1.12 g/dl. Moreover, frequency distribution of preterm status showed that out of 45 patients in anemic and non-anemic group, 35.6% and 46.7% had preterm status respectively. RR was 0.76. Conclusion: Prematurity is major cause of perinatal mortality. The findings of this study although shows prevalence of preterm delivery in both anemic and non-anemic pregnant women however results were not significant to support our hypothesis. Further research is needed with strategies to address the anemia status of expecting mothers. Key Words: Maternal anemia, preterm, anemia and non-anemic group.