Comparison of the prevalence of anemia in the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy in a medical and educational center in Shiraz

The high rate of anemia in pregnancy is associated with complications of pregnancy and delivery; therefore, to assess the level of hemoglobin [Hb] in women who are at risk can prevent these complications. In this descriptive study, 108 pregnant women referred to a medical and educational center in Shiraz in 2006. They were enrolled in three different occasions: first trimester [10-14 weeks], second trimester [25-30 weeks], and third trimester [37-40 weeks]. The correlation of blood hemoglobin concentration with the risk of severe nausea, vomiting, and iron supplementation in pregnant women was estimated. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS 11.5 and Pearson correlation. The mean age of the participants is 25.74 +/- 5.66. In the first trimester of pregnancy 71.9% had normal hemoglobin level and 28.1% higher than normal with no case being anemic. In the second and third trimester of pregnancy, 29.2% of the subjects were anemic. The level of hemoglobin had positive correlation with the total amount of iron intake in the second trimester [p= 0.001 and r= 0.44], also in the third trimester [p< 0.001 and r= 0.46] and the whole pregnancy [p< 0.001 and r= 0.38]. This study indicated that despite regular intake of iron,%29.2 of the subjects had anemia. These findings emphasize the importance of treating these groups of patients and measuring levels of hemoglobin in each trimester together with reviewing other risk factors which are effective on anemia