Correction of anemia in pregnancy

Abstract

Anemia affects almost half of pregnant women worldwide having important consequences on the maternal-fetal binomial. The main cause is iron deficiency. Although it is easy to detect and treat and involves low health budgets, it is believed that in most cases hemoglobin and ferritin levels in pregnant women are not corrected. A cross-sectional descriptive observational investigation was conducted to study the frequency of anemia correction in patients treated at the High Risk Obstetrics polyclinic in the Hospital de Clínicas in 2007 - 2013. From a preexisting database a sample of 134 patients who had anemia during pregnancy was obtained. Based on the review of clinical records, the variables association that could influence the results, such as maternal nutritional status in early pregnancy, birth risk period, early detection of pregnancy and severity of anemia, were analyzed using the Chi-square test. It was noted that in 50% of patients studied anemia had not been corrected. We conclude there is a difficulty to correct anemia and a need for future studies to determine the causes of this problem and implement actions based on them.