Abstract

ANEMIA IN PREGNANCY- A TOPICAL APPRAISAL

*Dr Sheeba Marwah, Sonam R Topden, Ritin Mohindra, Manjula Sharma,

ABSTRACT

Globally, anaemia is one of the most commonly encountered medical disorders in pregnancy. Concurring with the recent yardstick established by „WHO‟, anaemia is present when the haemoglobin concentration in peripheral blood is 11 gm/dl or less. In developing countries it is a cause of serious concern as, besides many other adverse effects on the mother and the fetus it contributes significantly to high maternal mortality. Because of the normal physiologic changes in pregnancy that affect the haematocrit, indices, and some other parameters, diagnosing true anaemia, as well as the etiology of anaemia in pregnant women, is exigent. Due to increased nutritional requirements of the mother and foetus, the most common anaemias are iron deficiency anaemia and folate deficiency megaloblastic anaemia. Iron and folate supplementation is thus indicated during pregnancy to prevent the complications from nutritional anaemias. Women most at risk are chiefly teenage girls and those hailing from low socio-economic groups. Anaemia is diagnosed by estimating the haemoglobin concentration and examining a peripheral blood smear for the characteristic red blood cell changes. It thus becomes vital to diagnose and cure anaemia in pregnancy to provide for optimal health of the mother and infant.This review is an effort to appraise about the various types of anemia in pregnancy, their implications on the maternal and fetal outcome, and long-term effects on the woman.

Keywords: Anaemia, pregnancy, iron deficiency, vitamin B12 & folic acid, sickle cell.