Background and objectives: Maternal anemia pose significant challenges to perinatal health globally. The current study was conducted to investigate the association between severity of anemia in pregnant women and adverse perinatal outcomes. Methods: A comparative descriptive study was conducted in Zakho Maternity Hospital, Zakho City, Kurdistan Region, Iraq from May 2022 to May 2023 involving 500 women during labor. The sample size included 253 anemic (Hemoglobin 35 years) and rural housing (p<0.001), although work status had no significant impact (p=0.292). Maternal anemia correlated with poorer Apgar scores, with rates of (75.0%, 9.3%, and 1.4% for severe, moderate, and mild anemia, respectively). More NICU admissions were observed for babies born to mothers with severe anemia (100.0%), followed by moderate (17.8%) and mild (4.9%) anemia. Additionally, more low birth weight cases were observed, with a prevalence of 75.0% in severe anemia followed by moderate (7.5%) and mild anemia (2.1%). Conclusion: A substantial link is there between anemia during pregnancy and maternal characteristics of parity and rural residence. Furthermore, poor perinatal outcomes had significant relation with anemia.
Abdulrahman et al. (Wed,) studied this question.