Anaemia is one of the common medical problems worldwide, especially among women (1). The physiological differences between women and men have increased the prevalence of this disease among women. Pregnancy in women increases the likelihood of anaemia due to increased needs or exacerbates underlying anaemia. The main population affected by anaemia are African and Southeast Asian women and girls. The global prevalence of this disease, according to a 2011 review, is 38%, which is estimated to be 25% in high-income countries ( 2 and 10). A study by Milad Azami and colleagues between 2005 and 2016 estimated the prevalence of anaemia in women's to be 17% (7). In addition to maternal complications of anaemia such as early fatigue, reduced tolerance to physical activity, lethargy, reduced mood, shortness of breath, there is evidence of the impact of this disorder on the infant, such as low birth weight (5). Studies also cite pregnancy anaemia as a risk factor for caesarean section, blood transfusion, and low infant Apgar scores (6). This disease is more of a symptom than an independent disease, and medical, social, cultural, economic, and nutritional factors are involved in its development and progression. From this perspective, health and treatment systems around the world have prioritized this group of the population as a high-risk and high-priority population, and have developed and implemented extensive health and treatment programs for the diagnosis and treatment of anaemia in pregnant mothers. In our country, with the expansion of health and treatment services for pregnant mothers, one of the goals of diagnosis, treatment, and more importantly, prevention of anaemia, especially iron deficiency anaemia, as the most common cause of anaemia during pregnancy, has been prioritized. In the present study, anaemia in the third trimester was defined as a haemoglobin concentration of less than 10.5 grams per decilitre, and based on this, this study was designed and implemented. According to the findings of this study, the prevalence of anaemia in the studied patients was 10.85%. This finding is similar to the study conducted by Milad Azami and colleagues, which reported anemia in pregnant women in western Iran to be 12%. However, our study only determined the prevalence and was only conducted on patients undergoing elective caesarean section, not all pregnant patients (Table 1). This finding is noteworthy despite the fact that 41.4% of the studied patients did not use iron supplements or used them irregularly (Table 2). The prevalence of anaemia in the study by Senadheera.D and colleagues, which included a study of 350 pregnant mothers in the first and second trimesters, was reported to be 16.6%. This study also examined the status of iron deficiency, which indicated iron deficiency in 36.6% of the studied mothers (20). In our study, due to its retrospective nature and the lack of laboratory investigations in the patients' records, this investigation was not possible.
The prevalence of iron supplement use in the study by Yesufu BM and colleagues was 31.8%, and the high rate of non-use or irregular use of these supplements among the patients in the present study necessitates more education and emphasis on the need for regular use. In examining the relationship between demographic factors and the prevalence of anaemia, the interesting point was the higher prevalence of anaemia at admission among urban patients compared to rural patients (69.2% vs. 30.8%, respectively, Table 3). This may be explained by the wider coverage of maternal care programs in rural areas compared to urban areas and the possibility of providing active services by service providers. Although this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.072). This notable finding is consistent with the study by Milad Azami and colleagues, in which the prevalence of anaemia was reported to be higher in the urban population than in the rural population [21% and 8%, respectively (7)].
Our study showed that the prevalence of anaemia was higher in the 25–30 year age group and illiterate women. This result is consistent with the results of the study by Amel.Ivan.E and other colleagues, although the statistical difference between the two groups was not significant. Also, in the present study, anaemia was more common in women with one previous pregnancy than in nulliparous and multiparous mothers, while in the study by Amel.Ivan.E, it was more common in multiparous mothers (24). In the study by Adanikin AI and colleagues, the only demographic variable associated with high prevalence of anaemia was the mothers’ occupation, with the disorder being more prevalent in unemployed or student patients (P = 0.007), which was explained by the relationship between patient income and anaemia (21). Senadheera D e al. In Sri Lanka had shown the prevalence of anaemia during pregnancy is less than 20%. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anaemia, defined as haemoglobin concentration less than 11 g/dL, and iron deficiency using serum ferritin in women attending antenatal care. The prevalence of anaemia was calculated to be 16.6%. The best cut-off level of serum ferritin for diagnosing anaemia was less than 30 µg/L. 36.9% of pregnant women had iron deficiency. It was concluded that the prevalence of anaemia (16.6%) and iron deficiency (36.9%) during pregnancy were of mild to moderate public health importance, respectively (20).
Late antenatal care uptake by women in low-income areas makes timely interventions in correcting anaemia difficult. Identifying modifiable sociodemographic factors that predict anaemia before antenatal care initiation and provide appropriate recommendation (21).
Ikeanyi EM et al. showed that the prevalence of anaemia was 32.2% in this population at registration. At term or delivery, 736 of 1052 who met the study criteria improved from anaemia (21.4%, odds ratio = 3.2, P < 0.0001), which was a 69.9% prevention, and 316 remained anaemic despite antenatal services (9.2%, OR = 0.43, P < 0.00001). These individuals were similar in most confounding factors such as social class, median age, body mass index, and gestational age at delivery (P > 0.05 in all)(22).
another study showed that most respondents had a moderate level of knowledge and a positive attitude towards the use of contraceptive methods, but a high proportion of them did not agree with the daily intake of iron supplements. Therefore, it was recommended that health education for women and also close family members be strengthened to improve the agreement with the use of supplements (23).
Amel. Ivan. E et al showed in their study ,There is a need for health education programs with emphasis on adherence to iron supplementation and adequate consumption of iron-rich diets during pregnancy to strengthen them and achieve safe maternal and fetal outcomes(24). Also. hemoglobinopathies should be screened in antenatal clinics to identify couples who need prenatal testing (25).knowledge about the cause of anemia, signs and symptoms of anemia, and an appropriate diet to prevent anaemia is poor, but women knowledge about the prevention and treatment of anaemia is vital (26).
Finally, Iron supplementation during pregnancy is a very cheap, effective, and accessible method for preventing and treating iron deficiency anaemia and preventing its direct and indirect complications. Given the lack of use or irregular use of these drugs, it is necessary to reflect this problem to the health sector and take necessary steps to change this behaviour.
Pregnancy clinics are very important centres for the prevention, diagnosis, and if necessary, treatment of detected diseases. In addition to this, registering patient information for future follow-ups and extracting information for future studies is important. Unfortunately, the clinics in developing countries may can no be able to provide such a prevention care. On the other hand, it is necessary to provide the possibility of integrating clinical and laboratory information of pregnancy care with hospitalization information, especially in cases where examinations have been performed on an outpatient basis and in other private or public centres. The scattering of medical information, in addition to increasing unnecessary duplication in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, is a serious obstacle.