‘Anemia can cause preterm delivery’

A public health nurse at the La General Hospital in Accra, Madam Evangelina Adjei, has said women who are pregnant are at a higher risk of developing anemia.

She said this on Amansan Television (ATV).

She was educating women on Anemia with pregnancy.

According to her, such a condition can only happen when one’s blood does not contain enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin.

And these cells, she said, carry oxygen around the body.

She further explained that there are three types of anemia—iron deficiency anemia, folate deficiency anemia and B12 deficiency anemia.

And among these three, she pointed out that, the common one is the iron deficiency anemia which affects 15 to 25 per cent of pregnant women.

The iron deficiency, she said, occurs when the body does not have enough iron.

And with the folate deficiency, it occurs when the body also does not have enough folic acid, she added.

She mentioned that the lack of iron in the body was the major cause of anaemia.

“Our body uses iron to make hemoglobin which carries protein into the Red Blood Cells (RBC) which carries oxygen to the tissues. And during pregnancy, the blood volume expands to accommodate changes in the body,” Madam Adjei stated.

Some of the risk factors of anemia, she mentioned, include two or more closely spaced pregnancies.

She indicated that during pregnancy, anemia can be a mild condition and easily treated, if diagnosed early.

However, she said, “it can become dangerous, to both the mother and the baby, if it goes untreated.

To this end, she advised all pregnant women to have good nutrition, iron supplement, pre-natal vitamins intake.