Anaemia in pregnancy still a major cause of morbidity and mortality: Insights from Koppal district, Karnataka, India

摘要

The prevalence of anaemia is unconscionably high and even rising in several states of India, including Karnataka in south India. The distribution of anaemia in the population is gender-biased towards women, with the risk of moderate to severe anaemia being even greater among pregnant women.1 Verbal autopsies by the Gender and Health Equity Project in Koppal, a deprived district of Karnataka, revealed that among 30 maternal deaths analysed, anaemia was an indirect cause of death in approximately 50% of cases and poses a serious threat to maternal survival. Specifically, anaemia either led to congestive heart failure or exacerbated the effects of blood loss in labouring women. Yet, even when anaemia was detected in pregnancy, its contribution to risk went largely unrecognised, except in very severe cases.