Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Anemia among Pregnant Women

Background: Anemia is one of the most commonly found medical disorders during pregnancy. As per The National Guidelines for Control of Iron Deficiency Anemia, published in 2013, India is among the countries with high prevalence of anemia in the world. Pregnancy is associated with physiologic changes that result in increased plasma volume and red blood cells and decreased concentrations of circulating nutrient-binding proteins and micronutrients, these physiologic changes can be aggravated by under nutrition, leading to micronutrient deficiency states, such as anemia. This study is an effort to assess the knowledge attitudes and practices regarding anemia in pregnancy and role of nutrition in management. Objective: The objective of this study is to find out the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice regarding anemia and its nutritional management in pregnant women. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted among pregnant Women attending antenatal clinic of two maternity hospitals in Hyderabad. It was carried out on 300 pregnant women who were randomly selected in the antenatal clinic over a period of 2-month from November 2016 to January 2017. A structured questionnaire, which consisted of questions on personal data, knowledge, attitude, and practices pregnant women, was employed as a data collection tool and their most recent medical reports were referred to check their Hb level. Results: From the present study it was found that 32% of the women had normal hb%. 40.3% were moderately anemic, 26.3% were mildly anemic, and 1.3% was severely anemic. The study also revealed that 68.9% of women didn’attend any diet counseling. Although 52% of women agreed that iron requirement increases during pregnancy, it was also found that 71.6% of women were consuming iron and folic acid tablets on regular basis and 21.3% of women were irregular in consuming iron and folic acid tablets, and 8% of women were not taking any folic acid and iron tablets during pregnancy. Thus Results of the present study indicate that knowledge, attitude, and practice of the pregnant women on healthy eating during anemia should be improved and that existing health and nutrition education of the pregnant women is not sufficient regarding anemia in pregnancy. Conclusion: The present study revealed that woman’s education levels was closely associated with their knowledge regarding anemia in pregnancy, cause of anemia, its signs, symptoms and treatment. It was also found that and there is need for education among pregnant women regarding proper dietary practices to prevent and treat anemia in pregnancy.