Prevalence of Anaemia during Pregnancy and its Correlates in Meghalaya State, India

Abstract

Anaemia during pregnancy adversely affects maternal and fetal outcomes. It is a major problem globally and in India. Despite much progress in provision of public health services, the high burden of prenatal anaemia continues and Supplementation with iron and folate tablets have had low impact. Despite rich biodiversity and high literacy rates, women in Meghalaya seem to suffer from high anaemia during pregnancy and there is scarce published research. Studies were done in South West Khasi Hills of Meghalaya state during 2018-20, on anaemia during pregnancy. Nearly 500 Mothers were personally interviewed while pregnant after informed consent Hemoglobin levels were assessed through standardized techniques and graded(g/100ml) as Normal: 11 or more, Mild:9-11, Moderate: 7-8.9 and Severe: <7 The research proforma was validated by experts subjected to essential pilot studies, computerized dsing Microsoft excel sheets, and analysed using SPSS software. The research was approved by the  University Research and Ethics Committee(UREC) Formal informed consent was obtained from each respondent .Of  539 pregnant women interviewed, 32 had no antenatal checkup and hence the analyses done on the 507 women. Overall prevalence of anaemia was 38.1%, (95% Confidence Interval from 33.9% to 42.3% ). The majority had mild anaemia, but significant numbers had moderate or severe anaemia causing concern. 34.1% mothers   in their first trimester ,37.9% in their second trimester and 39% in their third trimester (39.1%) had anaemia; 30.6% of primigravidae women as compared to 69.4% of  multigravidae have anaemia,38.6% of younger women less than 25 years, 38.3% in ages 25-34 and 36.9% in the oldest age group above 35 years are anaemic. 37.5% of illiterate women 36.8% of intermediate level 43.2% of  well-educated were anaemic.  On the other hand, 34.1% of mothers from nuclear families but  45.7%, from joint families  have anemia However none of the differences are statistically significant. Prevalence of Anaemia during pregnancy is high in women of south west khasi hills district of Meghalaya.  Multigravida, large families, poor knowledge and attitudes, improper and inadequate nutritious diets seem to be major factors to be addressed urgently.