FREQUENCY OF ANEMIA AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN AND ITS IMPACT ON MATERNAL AND FETAL HEALTH

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of anemia among pregnant women presenting at a tertiary care hospital and to assess its association with feto-maternal outcomes. Study Design: Descriptive, Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Center, Karachi. Period: Four months from January 2026 to April 2026. Methods: A sample of 237 pregnant patients aged between 15 and 49 years with a gestational age of 28 weeks or more and admitted for labor and delivery was obtained through a consecutive sampling technique. Women with a history of multiple gestation pregnancies, chronic diabetes and/or hypertension, chronic liver and/or renal disease, and chronic thyroid disease were excluded from the study. The admission hemoglobin was checked, and anemia was labeled with hemoglobin less than 11 g/dL based on WHO criteria. Each participant of the study was followed till discharge for the outcomes of preterm birth, postpartum hemorrhage, perineal rupture, low birth weight, a poor APGAR score, NICU admission, stillbirth, neonatal death, and maternal death. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. For categorical comparisons, the Chi-square or the Fisher’s Exact Test was used, while the Mann–Whitney U test was used for continuous variables. To obtain the odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals, the binary logistic regression was used. A p-value less than or equal to 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of participants was 28.91 ± 6.61 years and mean hemoglobin was 10.33 ± 1.21 g/dL. Anemia was identified in 160 (67.5%) women. Anemic women had significantly higher odds of NICU admission (OR 6.54, 95% CI 3.14–13.60, p < 0.001), poor APGAR score (OR 5.05, 95% CI 2.58–9.88, p < 0.001), postpartum hemorrhage (OR 3.54, 95% CI 1.64–7.64, p = 0.001), preterm birth (OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.50–5.31, p = 0.001) and perineal tear (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.21–4.15, p = 0.010). No statistically significant association was observed for low birth weight, stillbirth or neonatal mortality, and there were no maternal deaths. Conclusion: Anemia during pregnancy was very common in this sample and was significantly associated with poor outcomes for both the mother and fetus. In particular, NICU admission, lower APGAR score, postpartum hemorrhage, preterm birth, and perineal tear were all common in this group. A better iron-rich diet during pregnancy.