Haemoglobin Level of Pregnant Women on First Appointment to Antenatal Care Clinic and Their Awareness on Anemia During Pregnancy

Background & Objective: Anemia in Pregnancy (AIP) causes many obstetric complications. Pregnant women’s awareness and knowledge play a pivotal role in management and prevention of AIP. Methods: The study was conducted at Lakshmi Madhavan Hospital-Tirunelveli, India, between August 2020 and December 2020. The questionnaire survey was conducted among 138 first trimester pregnant women visiting the obstetrics and gynaecology department for antenatal care on their first appointment. The diagnosed participants’ knowledge, awareness and management potential about AIP was assessed. Results: The mean age was 26.9 and 24.2 years in AIP and non-anemia in pregnancy NAIP groups, respectively. First appointment was scheduled for the antenatal care in the early weeks of first trimester i.e, between five to nine weeks gestation was 38.3% and 37.6% of the AIP and the NIAP group, respectively. AIP compared to parity (χ2 = 3.0739) and gestation age (χ2 = 0.8435) was not significant at P-value<0.05. According to WHO definition, AIP was reported in 49.2% of the study population involving 30.4% of urban and 18.8% of rural population. The knowledge and awareness of pregnant women towards anemia in pregnancy was not significant with eleven predictor’s odds ratio. However, both of the groups, 60.3% of the AIP and 46.2% of the NAIP cases were aware of the anemia-related complications during pregnancy. Conclusions: First trimester anemia in pregnancy was a prominent health burden in spite of available resources and awareness programmes. There was a sensitization lacunae to rule out the misconception and the belief. A healthy state of mind and practice among women shall be instrumental in bringing about an improved perception of AIP and its prevention.