A total of 45% pregnant women visiting Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Medical College at the time of delivery are anemic, Prof Manju Puri, Former Director and Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, LHMC said while speaking to the media on occasion of recently held National Association for Reprodutive & Child Health Care of India (NARCHI) conference. 

Prof Puri was the organising chairperson of the conference. 

The prevalence of anemia among pregnant women is not confined to Lady Hardinge Medical College alone; rather, this situation persists in various healthcare institutes across India.

"In an effort to understand the decline in anemia levels during delivery, we conducted an initiative called the Quality Improvement Project. As part of this project, we organized question-and-answer sessions with pregnant women. Through these interactions, we found that women lacked awareness regarding the significance of the prescribed medications for managing anemia," Prof Puri said. 

She pointed out that another concern identified is that a majority of patients believe that a hemoglobin level of 10 grams per cent is sufficient during pregnancy. Contrary to this misconception, the recommended level is 11 grams. Failure to take iron tablets by women with an initial hemoglobin level of 11 grams may result in a reduction of two levels by the time of delivery, potentially dropping to eight grams.

"In our understanding, for women who either cannot take tablets or find them intolerable, we recognized the importance of explaining that they can opt for an alternate-day dosage. Additionally, we found that some women were concurrently taking calcium and iron tablets. However, it is crucial to note that if these tablets are ingested together, their absorption is compromised. The recommended practice is to take the calcium tablet with food and the iron tablet two hours after having a meal," Prof Puri said. 

She further said that another noteworthy finding pertains to the high prevalence of B12 deficiency among pregnant women. In our hospital, it has been observed that 60% to 70% of pregnant women experience a deficiency in B12. 

Prof Puri said that this deficiency becomes more pronounced as the pregnancy progresses due to the increased demand for B12 by the fetus. The prevalence of B12 deficiency is attributed to the fact that a significant portion of our population follows a vegetarian diet, and B12 is primarily obtained from animal-based foods.