Effect Of Maternal Anemia On Cord Blood Hemoglobin Of Full-Term Newborn

Abstract

Background and purpose: Anemia during pregnancy is related to major problems of mother and fetus. The purpose of the study was to find any correlation between maternal anemia and the baby's cord blood hemoglobin (Hb) level.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in neonatal and midwifery departments women in Mashhad Azad University hospitals from January 2014 to September 2021.A total of 200 pregnant women over 34 weeks of pregnancy who gave birth participated in the study and umbilical cord blood. The hemoglobin of their babies was collected. Average maternal hemoglobin and average cord blood hemoglobin comparison using Pearson's correlation coefficient in different non-anemic, anemic, mild, moderate, and severe anemia groups were classified.

Findings: Out of 200 pregnant women, 136 (67.8%) were anemic and 64 (32.2%) were not anemic. Medium hemoglobin in non-anemic mothers and anemic mothers was 11.67 and 9.56 g/dl, respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficient of non-anemic, anemic, mild, moderate, and severe anemia groups with P<0.05 is statistically significant, which showed a positive correlation between maternal hemoglobin and umbilical cord hemoglobin.

Conclusion: From this study, we concluded that maternal anemia affects the hemoglobin of the baby's umbilical cord blood. According to the findings, anemic women give birth to babies with lower hemoglobin levels than non-anemic mothers. Findings showed a linear relationship between maternal hemoglobin and cord blood hemoglobin of their babies.