Abstract

Introduction: Background & Objective: Anemia during pregnancy has a relatively high prevalence. Mild anemia is not associated with significant embryonic effects, whereas severe anemia (hemoglobin of <7) could adversely affect the mother and fetus and increase maternal and neonatal mortality. The present study aimed to evaluate the influential factors in the prevalence of anemia and the associated neonatal complications in pregnant women. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted by reviewing 550 delivery records of the pregnant women referring to the health centers in Yazd, Iran during 2016-2017. Subjects were randomly selected from different parts of Yazd city. Data on pregnancy care were extracted from the medical records using a data collection. Anemia was defined as the hemoglobin levels of <11 and <10.5 in the first and second semester, respectively. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using Chi-square and t-test at the significance level of P<0.05. Results: The prevalence of anemia among the pregnant women in Yazd city was 7.2, including 25 cases (4.5) in the first trimester, and 22 cases (4) in the second trimester of pregnancy. No significant correlations were observed between anemia and maternal age, education level, occupation status, neonatal sex, mode of delivery, high-risk pregnancy and birth weight (P>0.05). However, the prevalence of anemia was significantly different in various regions of the city, and the neonates of anemic mothers had significantly lower head circumference compared to the neonates of the mothers without anemia (P<0.01). Conclusion: According to the results, the prevalence of anemia seems to be relatively lower in Yazd compared to the other regions in Iran, which could be attributed to the expansion of healthcare services and implementation of preventive intervention programs in these areas. © 2018, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.