Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Jun 18:1:100021.
doi: 10.1016/j.puhip.2020.100021. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Maternal anaemia and risk of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes in South Asian countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Md Aminur Rahman  1 , Md Nuruzzaman Khan  2 , Md Mostafizur Rahman  1
Affiliations
Review

Maternal anaemia and risk of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes in South Asian countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Md Aminur Rahman et al. Public Health Pract (Oxf). .

Abstract

Background: The occurrence of maternal anaemia is common in South Asian countries which increase the risk of adverse maternal obstetric and birth outcomes. This may adversely affect the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals' (SDG) targets of reducing maternal and under-five deaths by 2030.

Objectives: To summarize the evidence on the association of maternal anaemia with adverse birth and maternal obstetric outcomes.

Methods: We adopted the PRISMA consensus statement. PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science databases were searched on February 20, 2020. A total of 38 studies was included, of which 25 articles were included in the quantitative synthesis and meta-analysis.

Results: Maternal anaemia was associated with a significantly higher risk of low birth weight (OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.06-2.60, p ​< ​0.05), preterm birth (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.20-2.41, p ​< ​0.05) and perinatal mortality (OR, 2.90; 1.97-3.78, p ​< ​0.05). Non-significant associations were seen with neonatal mortality (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 0.90-27.77, p ​= ​0.7), miscarriage (OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 0.48-3.20, p ​= ​0.08), preeclampsia (OR, 2.66; 95% CI, 0.61-11.52, p ​= ​0.6) and caesarean delivery (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.36-2.80, p ​= ​0.07).

Conclusion: Maternal anaemia increases the risk of low birth weight, preterm birth and perinatal mortality. Improving maternal nutritional status and iron supplementation during pregnancy are important for reducing these adverse outcomes.

Keywords: Anaemia; Meta-analysis; Pregnancy outcomes; South Asian countries.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flowchart for selection of studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. UN . 2015. Sustainable Development Goal The United Nation.https://wwwunorg/sustainabledevelopment/health/2015 USA. Accessed from.
    1. WHO . 2018. Maternal Mortality The World Health Organization.http://wwwwhoint/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortalityon%202018 Geneva, Switzerland. Accessed from.
    1. WHO . The World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2018. Under-five Mortality.https://wwwwhoint/gho/child_health/mortality/mortality_under_five_text/e... Accessed from.
    1. Kassebaum N.J., Jasrasaria R., Naghavi M., Wulf S.K., Johns N., Lozano R., et al. A systematic analysis of global anemia burden from 1990 to 2010. Blood. 2014;123:615–624. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kidanto H.L., Mogren I., Lindmark G., Massawe S., Nystrom L. Risks for preterm delivery and low birth weight are independently increased by severity of maternal anaemia. S. Afr. Med. J. 2009;99:98–102. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources