Risk Factors and Adverse Perinatal Outcomes of Anemia in Zakho Maternity Hospital

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 <11 g/dl) and 247 non-anemic pregnant women (Hemoglobin ?11 g/dl). Demographic character, mode of delivery and perinatal outcomes were compared between both groups. Results: Among the 253 anemic women during labor involved in the study, 56.0% had mild, 42.4% had moderate, and 1.6% had severe anemia. Higher parity increased anemia risk (P<0.000), Among mothers with moderate anemia, 47.2% were multiparous compared to 26.4% primigravida. Similarly, among those with severe anemia, 42.8% were multiparous compared to 0% primigravida. Anemia was associated with extreme maternal age (<20 and >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.