Maternal Anemia and Poor Diet during Pregnancy is An Independent Risk Factor for Low Birth Weight and Preterm Delivery

The present study was designed to investigate the outcome of pregnancy and delivery in patients with anemia with poor dietary intake.300 mothers admitted in a Tertiary health centre for delivery were recruited for the study. Hemoglobin, gestational age of delivery and birth weight of the babies was noted. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 16. More than 66 % mothers were anemic at some point of time during their pregnancy. Only 34.7 % patients had intake of extra diet during pregnancy. Mean birth weight of babies born to anemic mothers was 2.39 0.5 kg which was significantly lower compared to that of babies born to non anemic mothers 3.04 0.47 kg ( p value = 0.001). Only 28.3 % of the anemic patients took extra diet during pregnancy among whom 35 % mothers had LBW babies.71.7 % patients did not take extra calorie diet which resulted in 45 % LBW babies. The mean gestational age at delivery for mothers who were anemic was 36.402.9 weeks compared to non anemic group - 38.331.8 weeks. The incidence of low birth weight babies and preterm deliveries were significantly more in mothers who were anemic with a poor diet intake. occurred more frequently in mothers.