Abstract

Background: Anemia in pregnancy is a public health problem affecting maternal and child health globally and particularly in many developing countries like Ethiopia. Objective: This study aims to assess the prevalence of anemia and associated factors among pregnant women at Bahir Dar city administration, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in public health facilities of Bahir Dar city from May to July 2014 on 480 pregnant women. Mothers who came for ANC during the study period and who met the inclusion criteria were interviewed. Hemoglobin level determination was assessed following the standard procedures. Socio-demographic, obstetrics, medical history and nutrition related data was collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Data were collected by trained health workers and coded and cleaned. The data were entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0 software. Bivaraite and multivariate regression analysis were done to assess the association between outcome and independent variables. Significance level of 0.05 was considered. Result : The overall prevalence of anemia in this study population was 18.3%. Fifty one anemic cases (10.6%) showed mild type of anemia followed by moderate anemia 33 (6.9%) and the remaining 4 (0.8%) were having severe anemia. Gravidity (AOR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.1-4.1), trimester of pregnancy (AOR=2.9, 95% CI: 1.1-7.7), history of abortion (AOR=4.9, CI: 2.4-10.2) and history of ante partum hemorrhage (AOR=2.6, 95% CI: 1.1-6.6) had statistically significant association with anemia in pregnant women. Conclusion : In the present study, the prevalence of anemia was relatively low. Gravidity, trimester of pregnancy, history of abortion and antepartum hemorrhage are the main contributing factors for anemia.

Keywords: Pregnancy; ANC; Anemia; Ethiopia