Nursing Intervention for Pregnant Women Suffering from Anemia in Maternal and Child Health Centers in Tanta City

Abstract

Anemia is one of the potentially lethal complications of pregnancy leading to large number of maternal and fetal loses but it is preventable and curable disease. Antenatal women should equip themselves with adequate knowledge about the prevention of anemia and routine beneficial diet, hygiene and treatment practices to prevent the consequence of anemia in pregnancy. Anemia is an indicator of both poor nutrition and poor health. WHO has estimated that the prevalence of anemia affects half a billion women of reproductive age worldwide. The prevalence of anemia was highest in south Asia and central and west Africa, Anemia prevalence during pregnancy differed from 18% in developed countries to 75% in South Asia and Africa (57.1%). Iron deficiency is the most common type of anemia in pregnant women because many women enter pregnancy with insufficient iron stores. The most common causes of iron depletion are nutritional inadequacies, frequent gestation, and short interval between pregnancies, abnormal blood loss, adolescent pregnancy, and multifetal pregnancy. demographic factors such as age, and socio-economic status also influence the rate of IDA in pregnancy.

Anemia and iron deficiency reduce individuals’ well- being, cause fatigue and lethargy, and impair physical capacity and work performance. Median losses in physical productivity due to iron deficiency are important. Failure to reduce anemia worldwide consigns millions of women to impaired health and quality of life, generations of children to impaired development and learning, and communities and nations to impaired economic productivity and development. Maternal anemia is associated with mortality and morbidity in the mother and baby, including risk of miscarriages, stillbirths, prematurity and low birth weight. Public health strategies to prevent and control anemia include improvements in dietary diversity; food fortification with iron, folic acid and other micronutrients; distribution of iron-containing supplements; and control of infections and malaria.