DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v5i08.025

Pages: 3087-3091

Worldwide anemia in pregnant women is a significant problem, especially in developing countries. It is commonly considered a risk factor for poor pregnancy outcome. Researches have documented iron deficiency as the leading cause of anemia in pregnancy. Several health programmes have been initiated to eradicate anemia. Objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of anemia in the pregnant women and compare the iron status of anemic pregnant women with that of non- anemic pregnant women. 53.4% of pregnant women were found to be suffering from different grades of anemia. 27.8% mild and 25.4% moderate anemia. There was a significant difference in the iron and ferritin levels between anemic and non anemic pregnant women. 39.91% of non-anemic pregnant women were iron depleted. 73.03% of the anemic pregnant women as found in the study were suffering from iron deficiency anemia. In 72 cases of anemia iron status was normal thereby implicating other causes of anemia. In conclusion the iron status of the pregnant women have been found to be low resulting in high prevalence of anemia. Continued evaluation of implementation of different health programmes and generation of nutritional awareness is very much required to achieve our goal of eradication of anemia.