Prevalence and pattern of anaemia and correlation with booking status in a new Medical College in Haryana, India

Background: Anaemia is the commonest medical disorder in pregnancy. It is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality.  This study analyses the   prevalence and pattern of anaemia and correlates it with booking status in a   new medical college in rural Haryana.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted to analyze prevalence, severity and morphology of anaemia in hospitalized pregnant patients at the time of labour in a new medical college in rural Haryana.  Antenatal booking status was correlated with haemoglobin levels and severity. The study was conducted over a period of six months from Nov ’18 to April’19.Results: 390 singleton labour patients at or near term with no other known medical complications were evaluated. Prevalence of anaemia in the centre serving as a referral with onsite blood bank facilities was as high as 79.7 %. 47.9%   of patients did not have even a single antenatal visit. 50.8% had microcytic hypochromic anaemia followed by 32.3% who had normal morphological picture; dimorphic was 14% and macrocytic 2.8%. The prevalence in booked patients was 78.91% compared to 80.1% in unbooked.Conclusions: Anaemia continues to be a major challenge to the obstetric services despite targeted efforts by the government and various organizations to provide free prophylaxis. Iron deficiency or nutritional anaemia is the commonest.  However, booking visits, counselling and free distribution of iron tablets doesn’t ensure that the patient is protected from anaemia. This raises concerns about compliance and hence effectiveness of oral iron therapy. An aggressive strategy for diagnosis, prophylaxis and treatment of anaemia as well as a method to ensure compliance must be developed.