Prevalence of Maternal Anemia in A Tertiary Care Hospital in Western Nepal.

INTRODUCTION: Maternal anemia is a common problem in developing countries like Nepal accounting for around 30-50% of women becoming anemic during pregnancy. The present study aims to find out the prevalence of maternal anemia in a tertiary care hospital in Western Nepal. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at Devdaha Medical College, Bhaluhi, Rupandehi, Nepal from October 2018 to May 2019 after taking ethical approval from the institutional review committee with the approval number: 012/2018. Three eighty three samples were taken and convenient sampling was done to reach the sample size. Data were collected from the study population after taking consent and entered in a predesigned proforma. It was then entered in an SPSS; point estimate at 95% CI was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. RESULTS: During the study period, out of 383 mothers, 230 (60.2%) mothers were anemic at 95% CI (10.6-10.8%); of which 172 (74.8%) were moderately anemic while 58 (25.2%) were mild anemic. The mean maternal Haemoglobin was 9.5±1.76SD. The mean maternal age was 24.24±3.26 SD; mean gestational age at the time of delivery was 36.08±1.77 SD. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of maternal anemia in this study is found to be higher than the national data which implies that maternal anemia is still a public health issue which needs to be addressed in spite of safe motherhood program launched by the government of Nepal.

Clinical Profile of Neonates with Respiratory Distress in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

INTRODUCTION: Respiratory distress in newborns is a very common reason for admission in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which may be transient or pathological; morbidity is high if not prompted for early diagnosis and treatment. The present study is undertaken to find out the clinical profile of neonates with respiratory distress in infants in a tertiary care hospital in western Nepal. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital in the western region of Nepal from April 2017 to March 2018 after approval from the institutional review committee. Sample size was calculated and consecutive sampling was done to reach the sample size. Data were collected from the study population after taking consent and entered in a predesigned proforma. It was then entered in a Statistical Package for Social Sciences, data analysis was done to find frequency and proportion for binary data. RESULTS: Tachypnea was the most common presentation 77 (69.36%). Out of 1694 live deliveries during the study period, the prevalence of respiratory distress was 6.55 % in the total live deliveries while 30.83 % in admitted cases in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Survival rate was 95.50% while mortality rate accounted for 4.50%. CONCLUSIONS: Perinatal asphyxia accounted for the commonest cause of respiratory distress. To lessen the morbidity and mortality of the neonates with respiratory distress it is advocated that we practice proper and timely neonatal resuscitation, recognize the risk factors as early as possible so that perinatal asphyxia can be minimized.