Effectiveness of Oral Iron Supplements among 2^nd Trimester Antenatal Mothers with Iron Deficiency Anaemia

Background: Many anatomical and physiological variations arise in the body during pregnancy. The expansion of the developing foetus causes an increase in the requirements for iron. To support a healthy newborn free from difficulties, the mother's health must be maintained. Purpose: The current study set out to find out how well oral iron supplements worked for pregnant women with iron deficiency anaemia who were in their second trimester. Materials and methods: The host institution's prenatal clinic hosted a group pretest-posttest exploration design. Using a non-probability purposive sampling procedure, 60 pregnant moms who fit the inclusion criteria were chosen to participate in the study. The intervention group consisted of antenatal mothers who were regularly attending the antenatal clinic, had a single viable foetus between 13 and 27 weeks gestation without any signs of abnormalities, had reduced ferritin levels, and had a moderate level of Anaemia (7-9.9 gms/dL). After using a self-structured questionnaire to gather demographic and clinical data, blood samples from study participants were used to determine biochemical markers such as serum ferritin and haemoglobin levels. Beginning on Day 1, research participants were instructed to take oral iron supplements for sixty days, namely Tab: Ferrous Sulphate and folic acid (335 mg per mouth once daily). Blood samples were taken on Day 61 of the trial to reevaluate the subjects' serum ferritin and haemoglobin levels. Results: The study's findings showed that haemoglobin had a mean score of 9.34±0.51 before the test and 11.30±0.81 after it. 1.96 was the mean difference score. At the p<0.001 level, the computed paired "t" test value of t = 16.098 was statistically noteworthy. Ferritin had a mean score of 19.68±3.01 before the test and 106.11±73.45 after it was administered. The score for the mean difference was 86.43. At the p<0.001 level, the computed paired "t" test value of t = 8.943 was statistically momentous. At the p<0.05 level, the demographic variable age (F=3.766, p = 0.016) had a statistically significant correlation with the posttest haemoglobin state amongst pregnant moms. Conclusion: Participants in our study had higher serum ferritin and haemoglobin levels after taking oral iron supplements.