STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MATERNAL ANEMIA AND LOW BIRTH WEIGHT AT COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE KOTKHAI, SHIMLA

Poonam Kanwar and *Nitesh Kanwar

ABSTRACT

A retrospective analysis of all low birth weight cases admitted to CHC Kotkhai from Jan 2018 to Dec 2020 was done to study the relation between maternal anaemia and low birth weight. Low birth weight is a global challenging public health problem. It is the major predictor of infant morbidity and mortality. Infant low birth weight is one of the major problems in different societies. Different reports have different results regarding relationship between maternal anaemia and low birth weight. Anaemia has been a very important nutritional disorder in the world. India has a big chunk of population suffering from anaemia. India has reported high prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy. In one of the studies conducted on a large population, it was estimated that 87% of the Indian pregnant women are anaemic.[1] This figure is the highest among the neighbouring South East Asian countries. Anaemia in pregnant women has been regarded as detrimental to the foetal growth and pregnancy outcome. Low birth weight and preterm delivery have been persistently linked to anaemia in pregnancy. The foetal growth occurs in various phases, and most of the micronutrient related issues occur in the third trimester.

Keywords: Low birth weight is a global challenging public health problem.