The Associated Factors that Cause and Health Ensuring Strategies to Cushion Anemia Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in Central Hospital, Warri

Anemia is one of the health challenges known to affect maternal and child health hence, constitutes burden to development efforts in Africa such as Nigeria. This has propelled the need to investigate associated factors that cause and health ensuring strategies so as to be able to cushion anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in central Hospital, Warri. The predicting health behaviour with social cognition models of MacKian (2003) to provide a basis for this study. The descriptive survey design was used in this study and a sample size of 100 was used and a convenience sampling technique was used to select respondents. Data was obtained through the questionnaire designed to obtain relevant information to suit the purpose of the study and was also subjected to validity and reliability analysis. The data collected was analysed and results were presented using frequency and percentage due to the descriptive nature of the study. The results showed that the demographic characteristics; maternal factors, genetic factor, nutritional factor and infectious diseases are major causes of anemia among pregnant women in Nigeria. In addition, several health ensuring strategies are deployed to curtail anemia among pregnant women. The study recommends that with the increasing global health challenge posed by anemia, it is imperial that government at all levels provide supports to various hospitals to help raise the awareness of anemia among pregnant women by organizing workshop to lecture pregnant women especially during antenatal visits in various hospitals. In addition, major drugs that could help curtail anemia among pregnant women should be provided for free and distributed to various hospitals to give to pregnant women by the governments and hospitals.