Assessing anaemia preventive measures’ effectiveness among pregnant women using haemoglobin concentration pattern

Background: Maternal anaemia is related to poor pregnancy outcome, with adverse effects on the mother and foetus, which can be ameliorated if adequate anaemia preventive measures are instituted. Objectives: The study assessed the effectiveness of anaemia preventive measures through the estimation of haemoglobin concentration pattern. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The participants were 410 pregnant women aged ≥18 years, booking for antenatal care at a gestational age (GA) ≤24 weeks. The recruitment spanned 29 weeks, from January to July 2023. Their haemoglobin (Hb) at booking was estimated and they received anaemia preventive measures such as health talks/dietary advice, haematinics, anthelminthics and intermittent preventive treatment for malaria. Subsequently, their Hb were measured at 24-, 28-, 32- and 36- weeks GA. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 25 and a P-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: There were 410 participants, 136 (33.2%) were anaemic at booking. Of these 130 (31.7%) had mild anaemia (Hb 9.0 - 10.9g/dl), while 6 (1.5%) had moderate anaemia (Hb 7.0 - 8.9g/dl). The overall mean Hb at booking and 36 weeks varied little (11.34±1.31 and 11.27±0.77 respectively). However, the proportion of women with moderate anemia at booking steadily declined to zero by 32 weeks. Among the anaemic group at booking, there was a steady increase in the proportion that became not-anemic from 15.4%, to 19.1%, to 31.6% and 44.1% at 24-, 28-, 32-, and 36- weeks respectively. The differences in the proportions were statistically significant (p=0.0001). Conversely, for the not-anemic at booking, 21.9% developed anaemia by 36 weeks. Conclusion: The prevalence of anaemia at booking was 33.2%. Preventive measures were effective in eliminating moderate anaemia and reversing a good proportion of mild anaemia. Despite these measures some not-anemic women subsequently developed anaemia. Generally, there was a positive relationship between Hb pattern in pregnancy and preventive measures use.