Anemia among pregnant women a major concern for achieving universal health coverage.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the frequency of anemia among pregnant females visiting Rawal Institute of Health Sciences and to find out the risk factors contributing to anemia. Study Design: Cross Sectional Descriptive study. Setting: Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan. Period: May to July 2019. Material & Methods: A study was carried out to find the frequency of anemia among 100 pregnant women through non-probability convenient sampling at RIHS using a structured questionnaire. Hemoglobin concentration data in the blood was collected from their antenatal archives. Results: Hemoglobin level was found to be less than 7 g/dl in 3% of the pregnant females and 6% had moderate anemia. In addition to that 68% were mildly anemic. Overall frequency of anemic pregnant women was found to be 77%. Conclusion: In conclusion, anemia in this study population was high frequency. This high frequency according to our study is related to inadequate diet, stress, multiple pregnancies and menorrhagia.