Anaemia in Pregnancy
CHAPTER ONE
explored adherence to iron supplementation.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Main objective
The general objective of the study was to investigate the level of awareness and prevention of anaemia during pregnancy among pregnant women in Ibesikpo-Asutan LGA.
Specific objectives
- To determine the obstetric history and development of anaemia in Ibesikpo-Asutan LGA.
- To determine the relationship between spouse’s socio-demographic characteristics and occurrence of anemia.
- To determine the relationship between antenatal care visit and taking of IFAS and development of anemia
- To determine the relationship between participant’s awareness on consequences of anemia during pregnancy and development of anaemia
- To determine the relationship between dietary habits and life style and occurrence of anaemia
- To determine the relationship between food consumption based on 24 hours re-call and anaemia
- To determine the relationships between health conditions of the participants and anemia
- To determine the relationship between anthropometric measurements and anemia
- To determine the factors independently associated with anaemia among pregnant women.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Anaemia during pregnancy is defined as a condition where there is less than 11g/dl of haemoglobin (Hb) concentration in the blood of pregnant women, which decreases oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood to the body tissues. The importance of good haemoglobin concentration during pregnancy for both the woman and the growing foetus cannot be overemphasized. Being a driving force for oxygen for the mother and foetus, a reduction below acceptable levels can be detrimental to both (Agan et al., 2010). Anaemia affects 1.62 billion (24.8%) people globally (WHO, 2008). Globally, almost half of all preschool children (47.4%) and pregnant women (41.8%) and close to one-third of non-pregnant women (30.2%) are anaemic (De Benoist et al., 2008; Badham et al., 2007). Anaemia affects more than 500 million women in developing countries where 4 of every 10 pregnant women are anaemic (USAID, 2011). Although reports exist about what is being done and what should be done globally to address prevention and treatment of maternal anaemia, prevalence of anaemia and maternal mortality around the world remains high (USAID, 2011). About half of this anaemia burden is a result of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). IDA is most prevalent among preschool children and pregnant women. Among women, iron supplementation improves physical and cognitive performance, work productivity, and well-being. Moreover iron supplementation during pregnancy improves maternal, neonatal, infant, and even long-term child outcomes (Sant-Rayn Pasricha et al., 2013). Although dietary deficiency may be contributory, the etiology of the vast majority of cases of iron deficiency anaemia in infancy and childhood is maternal iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODS
Study Design
A cross-sectional study was conducted from 8th February to 18th march, 2018, on 258 pregnant women who attended antenatal clinic at Mount Carmel Mount Carmel General Hospital, Ibesikpo-Asutan LGA. Researcher-administered questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and laboratory tests for haemoglobin were used to obtain data.
Study Area
This cross-sectional study was carried out in the antenatal clinic of Mount Carmel Mount Carmel General Hospital, Ibesipko-Asutan LGA. The hospital was purposively selected as the study site since it remains the largest maternity hospital in Ibesikpo. It is a maternity hospital for residents in the study area. It also serves as a referral center for other health facilities within the area and adjoining districts. The institution has a bed capacity of 350 and 150 baby cots. The hospital has one antenatal ward, one labor ward, two theatres, four postnatal wards, a special newborn unit and maternal/child health unit. Daily normal deliveries in the hospital range between 50 and 100 and Caesarean Sections between 10 and 15.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Introduction
This chapter presents the analysis of the study findings. It is organized as follows; descriptive information of the study variables, bivariate analysis of factors associated with anaemia and finally multivariate analysis summarizing the independent predictors of anaemia among pregnant women. The results are presented in tables and graphs forms. Two fifty eight (258) pregnant women were recruited to participate in the study. Of these women, 93 were in the second trimester and 165 were in the third trimester of pregnancy.
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMEDATION
Level of awareness of Anaemia among pregnant Women in Ibesikpo-Asutan
The level of awareness of anaemia as shown by the analysis shows that majority of the women attending ante-natal care in the sample area had no knowledge on anemia, it consequences and causes. It has shown according to the analysis that 96(63.2%) of the participants are not aware of anaemia and it consequences and only 20.2% of the participants knew about anemia and it consequences.
Factors associated with anaemia during pregnancy
Relationship between maternal age and anaemia: The odds of anaemia were observed to rise as maternal age advances. Pregnant women aged 31 years and above were significantly more anaemic compared to those mothers below 31 years old. This result is in agreement with the previous studies such as in Kisumu District of Nigeria (Kennedy Nyabuti Ondimu, 2000), Ethiopia (Samson et al., 2014), Tanzania (Sven Gudmund, 2001) and Egypt (Noha and Sakina, 2014) which found that late pregnancy is significantly increased risk of developing anaemia. It is generally believed that anaemia in pregnancy increases with rising parity and maternal age. Besides the general body weakness with advanced maternal age, older women are expected to be multigravidae. Multigravida may induce anaemia by reducing maternal iron reserves at every pregnancy and by causing blood loss at each delivery (Adinma et al., 2002).
Recommendations
This study has shown that anaemia in pregnancy is still prevalent in pregnant women at Mount Carmel General Hospital , Ibesikpo-Asutan LGA identifying not taking IFAS, late pregnancy, employed women and nutritional status (MUAC less than 23 cm) as risk factors. In the light of this, it is recommended that:
- Continuous reproductive advice and education should be given to all reproductive age women to create awareness about the risk of developing anaemia with late pregnancy. This will help to limit the child bearing age up to where the women can give birth without compromising their health.
- Employed pregnant women should be given time from their employers to attend ANC and enough maternity leave before delivery to get adequate resting time and time for birth plan and after delivery to recover fully.
- Since pregnancy is the most nutritionally demanding period in a woman’s life, pregnant women should be encouraged and educated to eat more diversified extra meal and iron-rich foods during pregnancy than usual to reduce the incidence of anaemia during pregnancy.
- There is a need for interventions such as mass media campaigns, outreach education on the importance of early ANC booking and compliance with the use of prescribed medications. Late ANC booking should be eliminated through appropriate health education and community mobilization.
- Community based study needs to be done to determine the prevalence and specific predictors of anaemia as well as the types of anaemia based on red blood cell morphology in the population of pregnant women. This would aid in planning health care services, reducing maternal morbidity and mortality and help improve the wellbeing of women in the society in general.
REFERENCES
- Abel Gebre and Afework Mulugeta .( 2015). Prevalence of Anemia and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in North Western Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, Volume 2015, Article ID 165430, 7 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/165430
- Adam, I., Khamis, A. H., and Elbashir, M. I. (2005). “Prevalence and risk factors for anaemia in pregnant women of eastern Sudan,” Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, vol. 99, no. 10, pp. 739–743.
- Adam, I., Babiker, S., Mohmmed, A., Salih, M., Prins, M., and Zaki, Z. (2007). Low body mass index, anaemia and poor perinatal outcome in a rural hospital in eastern Sudan. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 54 (3):202-204.
- Adesina, O., Oladokun, A., Akinyemi, O., Akingbola, T., Awolude, O., and Adewole, I. (2011). “Risk of anaemia in HIV positive pregnant women in Ibadan, South West Nigeria,” African Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 67– 73.
- Adinma, J. I. B., Ikechebelu, J. I., Onyejimbe, U. N., Amilo, G., and Adinma, E. (2002).
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