Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate that multigravidity is a strong risk factor for anemia. Study Design: Cross sectional and/or case control study. Setting: Department of Physiology University of Sindh Jamshoro, and Civil Hospital. Period: January 2019 to June 2019. Material & Methods: On 600 pregnant females selected by convenient random sampling, aged between 18 to 40 years. Complete blood count (CBC) of all participants was performed by using CBC hematology analyzer Celltac Alpha MEK-6500 by Nihon Kohden Germany. Results: Out of 600 pregnant female population 294(49%) were non. anemic, 309(51.5%) were anemic out of which 78(13%) are mild anemic, with Hb(10-10.9mg/dl),144(24%) moderately anemic with Hb (7-10.9 mg/dl) and 87(14.5%) are severely anemic with a Hb<7 mg/dl. Moderately anemic pregnant women were in abundance in primigravida population. The hemoglobin of primiparous pregnant females was (11.45±1.45) and of multiparous was (8.93±1.66) which is highly significant (P= 0.001), Hematocrit of primigravida (30.92±4.2) significantly (P= 0.001) higher, whereas in multigravida it was reported as (24.2±8.66) The MCV in primigravida was (80.24±6.45) significantly (P= 0.001) greater than that of multigravida (72.5±10.5). MCH in primigravida (25.9±2.56) and in multiparous (23.75±2.7) which is also significant with (P= 0.003) MCHC in primiparous (30.58±2.19) and in multiparous (31.34±2.5) with (P= 0.05). Conclusion: It is concluded that high parity is risk for developing iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy, the incidence of anemia increases with the number of pregnancies.