Abstract:
Anaemia is a global public health problem that affects all populations both developing and developed countries with enormous effect on health outcomes.
The objectives of the study were to assess prevalence of anaemia at registration and 36 weeks of gestation; determine the socio-demographic factors that contribute to anaemia; determine association between number of antenatal visits in relation to newborn outcomes and anaemia status. A cross-sectional study design, convenience sampling method quantitative method. A structured questionnaire was administered to the mothers with their consent.
Three hundred and eighty-six (386) women attending postnatal care clinic participated in the study. Sixty-six percent (66.8%) of the women made their first antenatal visit during the first trimester of gestation. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis was used to test association between variables of interest. Anaemia prevalence at registration was 41.2%, 32% in the second trimester, and 3% in the third trimester. Prevalence at 36 weeks gestation was 48.7%. The effect of demographic and socio-economic factors like age, education level, employment status, occupation and birth spacing was statistically insignificant (p<0.05). Majority of the mothers made their first antenatal care visit during the first trimester of gestation (67%). Among those who made their first visit during the second trimester, 41.4% indicated absence of ill health as the reason for not attending, whilst 19.5% felt it was the right time. An association between the number of antenatal visits and birth weight was observed but was not statistically significant (p=0.056). Ninety-five percent (95%) of the mothers who made more than four antenatal visits before birth delivered babies with normal weight (>2.5kg). However, there was a significant association between the number of antenatal visits and maturity of the baby (p=0.021). Furthermore, an association between anaemia at 36 weeks of gestation and birthweight of the newborn was found to be statistically significant (p=0.009), but insignificant between anaemia and maturity of the baby (p=0.114). Intensive education of pregnant women to seek care early and adherence to testing of haemoglobin levels schedules will be important in managing anaemia, and contribute to the reduction in the burden of anaemia in pregnancy. Further research to establish association between anaemia and newborn outcomes (birthweight and maturity) is highly recommended.
