Anaemia In Pregnancy At Coast Province General Hospital(CPGH), Mombasa : A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Nutritional anaema is defined by W.H.O. as, "A condition in which the haemoglobin concentration of blood is below the accepted normal value, due to a deficiency of one or more nutrients essential for erythropoiesis, regardless of the cause of the deficiency" (I). The materials essential for erythropoiesis, deficiencies of which are responsible for anaemia in pregnancy anywhere in the world, are, broadly iron and folic acid, and occasionally vitamin B12 (2). The importance of anaemia as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality at the coastal regions of Kenya has been well documented (3-8). Malaria (9) and hookworm infection (10) being endemic in these areas, would undoubtedly playa major role in the aetiology of anaemia in pregnancy. This study was undertaken to evaluate t he part played by these two parasites plus other determinants of anaemia in pregnancy at the coast