Skip to main content

Anaemia in Pregnancy

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Labour Room Emergencies

Abstract

Anaemia in pregnancy is one of the commonest health problems worldwide especially in developing countries. Despite all efforts of national health programmes to provide optimum antenatal care to all pregnant women, and recommendation of screening for anaemia on their first antenatal visit, more than half of the pregnant women in the world are suffering from this condition. In developed countries, incidence of anaemia in pregnant women is only 15%, whereas relatively higher prevalence (33–75%) has been reported in developing countries. Anaemia in pregnancy can present in the labour room as an emergency, and it merits an expert handling. Appropriate handling of anaemia can prevent maternal mortality and morbidity and also affects foetal outcome.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. WHO. Haemoglobin concentrations for the diagnosis of anaemia and assessment of severity. In: vol. WHO/NMH/NHD/MNM/11.1. Geneva: World Health Organisation; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  2. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Clinical Guideline 62, Antenatal Care: routine care for the healthy pregnant woman.National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health (UK). London: RCOG Press; 2008. ISBN-13: 978-1-904752-46-2.

    Google Scholar 

  3. CDC. Recommendations to prevent and control iron deficiency in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MMWR Recomm Rep. 1998;47(RR-3):1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  4. World Health Organization (WHO). Prevention and management of severe anaemia in pregnancy: report of a technical working group. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 1993. WHO/FNE/MSM/93.5

    Google Scholar 

  5. Massawe SN, En U, Nystrom L, Lindmark G. Effectiveness of primary level care in decreasing anemia at term in Tanzania. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1999;78:573–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Nyuke RB, Letsky EA. Etiology of anaemia in pregnancy in South Malawi. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72:247–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Mahomed K. Iron and folate supplementation in pregnancy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;2:CD001135. World Health Organization Reproductive Health Library CD-ROM. 2004;7

    Google Scholar 

  8. Rousia U, Madan N, Agarwal N, Sikka M, Sood S. Effect of maternal iron deficiency anaemia on fetal outcome. Indian J Patholo Microbiol. 1995;38:273–9.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Koller O. The clinical significance of hemodilution during pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 1982;37:649.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Looker AC, Dallman PR, Carroll MD, Gunter EW, Johnson CL. Prevalence of iron deficiency in the United States. J Am Med Assoc. 1997;277(12):973–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. McFee JG. Iron metabolism and iron deficiency during pregnancy. Clin Obstet Gynecol Ind. 1997;22:799–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Turmen T, Abouzahr C. Safe motherhood. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 1994;46:145–53.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. McArdle HJ, Morgan EH. Transferrin and iron movements in the rat conceptus during gestation. J Reprod Fertil. 1982;66(2):529–36.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. McArdle HJ, Douglas AJ, Morgan EH. Transferrin binding by microvillar vesicles isolated from rat placenta. Placenta. 1984;5(2):131–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Ekiz E, Agaoglu L, Karakas Z, Gurel N, Yalcin I. The effect of iron deficiency anemia on the function of the immune system. Hematol J. 2005;5:579–83.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Rohilla M, Raveendran A, Dhaliwal LK, Chopra S. Severe anaemia in pregnancy: a tertiary hospital experience from northern India. J Obstet Gynaecol. 2010;30(7):694–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Brabin BJ, Hakimi M, Pelletier D. An analysis of anemia and pregnancy-related maternal mortality. J Nutr. 2001;131(2S-2):604S–14S; discussion 614S–5S.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hemminki E, Rimpela U. Iron supplementation, maternal packed cell volume, and fetal growth. Arch Dis Child. 1991;66:422–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Agarwal KN, Agarwal DK, Mishra KP. Impact of anaemia prophylaxis in pregnancy on maternal hemoglobin, serum ferritin and birth weight. Indian J Med Res. 1991;94:277–80.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Singla PN, Tyagi M, Kumar A, Dash D, Shankar R. Fetal growth in maternal anemia. J Trop Pediatr. 1997;43:89–92.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Zhang Q, Ananth CV, Li Z, Smulian JC. Maternal anaemia and preterm birth: a prospective cohort study. Int J Epidemiol. 2009;38(5):1380–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Goldenberg RL, Culhane JF. Low birth weight in the United States. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;85(2):584–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Colomer J, Colomer C, Gutierrez D, Jubert A, Nolasco A, Donat J, Fernandez-Delgado R, Donat F, Alvarez-Dardet C. Anaemia during pregnancy as a risk factor for infant iron deficiency: report from the Valencia Infant Anaemia Cohort (VIAC) study. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1990;4(2):196–204.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. UN Children’s Fund, U, WHO. Iron deficiency anaemia. Assessment prevention, and control. A guide for programme managers. Geneva (Switzerland): World Health Organization; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Reveiz L, Gyte GM, Cuervo LG. Treatments for iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007;2:CD003094.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Pavord S. UK guidelines on the management of iron deficiency in pregnancy. Br J Haematol. 2012;56(5):588–600.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Komolafe JO, Kuti O, Ijadunola KT, Ogunniyi SO. A comparative study between intramuscular iron dextran and oral ferrous sulphate in the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy. J Obstet Gynaecol. 2003;23(6):628–31.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Froessler B, Collingwood J, Hodyl NA, Dekker G. Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose for anaemia in pregnancy. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014;14:115.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Christoph P, Schuller C, Studer H, Irion O, De Tejada BM, Surbek D. Intravenous iron treatment in pregnancy: comparison of high-dose ferric carboxymaltose vs. iron sucrose. J Perinat Med. 2012;40(5):469–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 95: anemia in pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 2008;112(1):201–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Mehra, R., Rani, J. (2020). Anaemia in Pregnancy. In: Sharma, A. (eds) Labour Room Emergencies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4953-8_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4953-8_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-4952-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-4953-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics