Article Sidebar
Published:
Feb 6, 2009Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
The risks for pre-term delivery and low birth weight are independently increased by the severity of maternal anaemia
Abstract
Objective. To estimate the effect of the severity of maternal anaemia on various perinatal outcomes.
Design. A cross-sectional study.
Setting. Labour Ward, Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Methods. The haemoglobin of eligible pregnant women admitted for delivery between 15 November 2002 and 15 February 2003 was measured. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, iron supplementation, malaria prophylaxis, blood transfusion during current pregnancy, and current and previous pregnancy outcomes were collected and analysed.
Anaemia was classified according to the World Health Organization (WHO) standards: normal – Hb ≥11.0 g/dl; mild – Hb 9.0 - 10.9 g/dl; moderate – Hb 7.0 - 8.9 g/dl; and severe – Hb <7.0 g/dl. Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the severity of anaemia. The following outcome measures were used: preterm delivery (<37 weeks), Apgar score, stillbirth, early neonatal death, low birth weight (LBW) (<2 500 g) and very low birth weight (VLBW) (<1 500 g).
Results. A total of 1 174 anaemic and 547 non-anaemic women were enrolled. Their median age was 24 years (range 14 - 46 years) and median parity was 2 (range 0 - 17). The
prevalence of anaemia and severe anaemia was 68% and 5.8%, respectively. The risk of preterm delivery increased significantly with the severity of anaemia, with odds ratios
of 1.4, 1.4 and 4.1 respectively for mild, moderate and severe anaemia. The corresponding risks for LBW and VLBW were 1.2 and 1.7, 3.8 and 1.5, and 1.9 and 4.2 respectively.
Conclusion. The risks of preterm delivery and LBW increased in proportion to the severity of maternal anaemia.
South African Medical Journal Vol. 99 (2) 2009: pp. 98-102
