EFFECTS OF THE MATERNAL HEMOGLOBIN DURING PREGNANCY UPONNEWBORN’S BIRTH-WEIGHT MEASUREMENTS.

Dr. Sudhir Mehta*

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Maternal anemia during pregnancycan affect newborn’s weight at birth and can also lead to poor fetal outcome as risks of morbidity and mortality is increased. Materials andMethods: All Singleton pregnancies delivered at the institute from January 2013 to 2014 fulfilling the criteria were included. The pregnant mothers were grouped into 4 categories according to the corresponding hemoglobin concentration: normal (=or>11), mild (10.9-9.0g/dl), moderate (8.9-7.0 g/dl), and severe anemia (less than 7 g/dl). Results: Out of 220 pregnant women included in the study 71.9% were found to be anemic. Among anemic mothers 4.7% had severe, 16.3% had moderate and 50.9% had mild anemia. The anthropometric measurements (birth weight, length, head circumference) with decreasing severity of anemia showed statistically significant difference (p = 0.001, p = 0.000, p = 0.001, p = 0.001) respectively. It was seen that as the number of pregnancies increases the severity of anemia increases with each pregnancy. Conclusion: Anemia during pregnancy can adversely affect the birth weight measurements of a newborn and severe anemia hasmore significant impact onthese newborn’s measurements.

Keywords: Maternal hemoglobin, Birth weight, Maternal anemia.