A prospective study of maternal hemoglobin status of Indian women during pregnancy and pregnancy outcome

The purpose of this study was to determine the hemoglobin status of middle- and high-income Indian women during pregnancy and to assess the relationship between maternal hemoglobin and the outcome of their newborns. A total of 500 pregnant women from Mysore city with confirmed pregnancy of 15 to 20 days postconception volunteered for the study and were followed until 1 week postdelivery. In the first and second trimesters, 45% to 49% women were anemic, whereas 16% were anemic in the third trimester. Normal concentration of hemoglobin in all the 3 trimesters was found to have a significant influence on birth weight. Mothers having highest hemoglobin concentrations (group D) exhibited the lowest percentage of infants with low-birth-weight infants (7.1% and 1.2%). This indicates the importance of normal hemoglobin concentrations in the first trimester on pregnancy outcome. Results of 24-hour dietary recall indicated a small difference in mean iron intake among women from middle- and high-income groups, that is, 21.9 ± 1.8 to 23.5 ± 2.2 and 22.8 ± 3.7 to 24.8 ± 4.3 mg/d, respectively, during the course of pregnancy. The intakes were far below the recommended dietary allowances for pregnant Indian women. All the subjects consumed iron supplements from the 20th week of pregnancy. The observations confirmed that normal hemoglobin concentration in the first trimester is crucial for better pregnancy outcome and income as wielding an indirect influence.