Erythrocyte changes in normal pregnancy in Maiduguri, North Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: There is paucity of data in respect of full blood count, which include the PCV, Hb, RBC in pregnant women in Maiduguri North- Eastern region of Nigeria.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Ante-natal Clinic of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. The control group was constituted by women from the family planning clinic who had weaned their babies. Blood samples were taken from 200 pregnant women and 150 nonpregnant controls.

Results: Eight of the pregnant women were in 1^st trimester, 119 in 2^nd trimester and 73 in 3^rd trimester. The mean ± SD of Hb, PCV, and RBC, were: Hb 8.5±2.2 g\dl, 7.9 ±1.7g\dl 8.2 ± 1.7 g\dl, PCV: 31.8 ± 5.8%, 28.6 ± 3.6%, 28.7 ± 4.9%, RBC: 4.1±1.1 x 10¹²\L, 4.0 ±0.9 x 10¹²\L, 3.9±1.9 x 10¹²\L for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd trimesters, respectively. The non-pregnant women had Hb, PCV, and RBC, of: 11.0 ± 1.34 g\dl, 34.0 ± 3.63%, 4.2 ± 0.58 x10¹² \L. There was a significant fall in Hb PCV and RBC count in pregnancy (P<0.05). The MCV in the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd trimesters were 82.3 ± 18.8 fl, 75.6 ±18.2 fl, and 79.2 ±17.4 fl, respectively. The MCHC in the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd trimesters were 26.2 ± 5.1 g\dl, 27.9 ± 5.5 g\dl and 28.2 ±5.6 g\dl, respectively. The MCH in the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd trimesters were 22.0 ±7.4, 21.0 ±5.3 pg, and 22.0 ±6.2 pg, respectively. The corresponding values for the non-pregnant women were: MCV 81.4 ± 10.52 fl, MCHC 32.5 ± 2.4 g\dl and MCH 26.3 ± 2.87pg. The MCV, MCHC and MCH were found to be significantly lower in pregnant than in the non-pregnant women (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Our finding showed that there is a significant fall in Hb, PCV, and RBC in pregnancy. Further studies are needed to determine the normal pregnancy values for our population.