Anjum Rehman, Bushra Ghazanfar, Nargis Soomro.
Effects of maternal anemia on fetal outcome i.e. Apgar score and birth weight.
Pak J Surg Jan ;21(2):102-5.

Objective: To determine the effects of maternal anemia on fetal outcome i.e. birth weight and fetal Apgar score at birth and at five minutes. Design & Duration: Cross sectional comparative study from February 2002 to February 2005. Setting: Gynaecology Unit II, Civil Hospital, Karachi. Patients: 150 pregnant women with anemia and 150 pregnant women without anemia, who were admitted in the labour room of Gynae. Unit II for delivery, were included in the study. Methodology: These pregnant women were evaluated by taking a detailed history, doing examination and investigations like complete blood picture, random blood sugar and ultrasonography of pelvis for fetal well being and gestational age. The newborns of all these women were followed after delivery to record their birth weight and Apgar score at birth and after five minutes. Results: The mean fetal birth weight was 2.47 ± 0.331 Kg in the anemic women and 3.31 ± 0.297 Kg in the nonanemic group, with a p-value of 0.000. The mean Apgar score of newborn at one minute in the anemic group was 6.29 ± 0.93 and in the non-anemic group was 6.77 ± 0.42, with a p-value of 0.000. The mean Apgar score of newborn at five minutes was 8.54 ± 0.74 in the anemic group and 8.81 ± 0.39 in the non-anemic women, with a p-value of 0.007. The mean fetal mortality in the anemic women was 9.3%, but it was zero in the non-anemic women. There was a significant difference between the two groups with a p-value of 0.007 on chi square test. Conclusion: This study show that anemic pregnant women who have haemoglobin levels of <11.0 G/dl deliver low birth weight babies with a high mortality rate and with a significant difference in Apgar scores of the new borns as compared to non-anemic pregnant women who have Hgb levels >11.0 gm/dl.

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