Maternal Anemia during pregnancy and birth outcomes: a population based cross sectional study Maternal Anemia and birth outcomes

Iron deficiency anemia Has been raised due to high prevalence and adverse effects as one of the main problems of public health in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between maternal iron deficiency anemia and its effect on birth weight in a population covered by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2018.

In this descriptive-analytic research, information on the birth of newborns was extracted from the Sina Electronic Health Record System. In this study, pregnant mothers were divided into two groups: anemia and non-anemia, 4 groups: moderate to severe, mild, normal and high hemoglobin, and 9 groups with 10 g/L interval from severe anemia to high hemoglobin. Data analysis was performed using statistical software STATA 14 and descriptive statistics, t test and logistic regression. The significance level in this study was considered 0.05.

Result of this study showed Low concentration of Hemoglobin was associated with higher odds of Low Birth Weight (OR:1.19 P:0.271) abnormal head circumference (OR:1.07 P:0.611) and abnormal hight (OR:1.10 P:0.587) When compared with normal hemoglobin. The risk of this factors across 9 pregnancy hemoglobin groups depended on severity of anemia. In this study high hemoglobin concentration was associated with an elevated risk of Low Birth Weight, abnormal head circumference and abnormal hight of neonate.

The results of this study showed that high and Low maternal hemoglobin concentrations during pregnancy can have an adverse effect on neonatal weight and height.