Assessment of full blood count and some iron parameters among pregnant women in Specialist Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria.

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is the single most prevalent nutritional deficiency worldwide. It is a major public health problem particularly among pregnant women in developing countries with adverse effects on the mother and the newborn. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of pregnancy on the full blood count parameters and some iron parameters (serum iron and serum ferritin) among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Sokoto Specialist Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria. This case-control study included 100 pregnant women (subjects) aged 31-36 years and mean age 27.44 ±4.16 years and 50 aged-matched non-pregnant women (controls). A structured questionnaire was administered to each of the participants and blood samples were collected and analyzed. Five milliliters (5ml) of blood sample was collected from each participant. Three milliliters (3ml) was collected in EDTA anticoagulated tube and used for full blood count estimation using the Mythic 22 C T Haematological analyzer (Orphee, Switzerland). Two milliliters (2ml) was collected in a plain tube, allowed to clot, centrifuged and the serum tested for ferritin using a human ferritin enzyme immunoassay kit-ACCU DiagTM ELISA Ferritin kit (Diagnostic Automation/Cortez Diagnostic Inc. California (U.S.A) while serum iron was determined using Chema Diagnostica (Italy) serum iron kit. The mean haemoglobin, haematocrit, red cell count, mean cell volume (MCV) and mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) was significantly lower among the pregnant subjects compared to controls (p<0.05). The mean serum iron and serum ferritin levels were significantly lower among the pregnant subjects compared to the non-pregnant controls (p= 0.004 and 0.001 respectively). The prevalence of anaemia, iron deficiency, and iron deficiency anaemia was 60% respectively. This present study indicates that the haemoglobin, haematocrit, red cell count, mean cell haemoglobin, mean cell volume, serum iron and ferritin, is significantly lower among pregnant subjects compared to non-pregnant controls. There is a high prevalence of anaemia, iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia among our cohort of pregnant women. We advocate for the WHO recommendation that there be universal access to iron supplementation for pregnant women to potentially improve their iron status and reduce the incidence of iron deficiency anaemia. Laboratory measures of full blood count and iron stores should be included in antenatal care protocol of pregnant women in the area to facilitate the diagnosis and the monitoring of pregnant women with iron deficiency anaemia. There is need for public enlightenment of women in the area on the need to eat iron- rich balanced diet to boost their iron stores and reduce the incidence of iron deficiency anaemia. We re-affirm WHO recommendation that anthelminthic therapy be provided for pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy to control hookworm infection particularly in areas in which the prevalence of infection is >20-30% and anaemia is prevalent.