Nutritional anaemia in pregnant coloured women in Johannesburg |
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Authors: | R D Lamparelli T H Bothwell A P MacPhail J van der Westhuyzen R D Baynes B J MacFarlane |
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Institution: | Department of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. |
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Abstract: | A nutritional anaemia survey was carried out in 224 pregnant coloured first-time attenders at Coronation Hospital antenatal clinic in Johannesburg during the second quarter of 1986. None had received any form of nutritional supplementation during pregnancy. Haemoglobin concentrations less than 11 g/dl were present in 18.9% of women in the third trimester of pregnancy, while 64% had a saturation of transferrin value of less than 16% and 68% a serum ferritin level less than 12 micrograms/l. Calculations suggested that mean iron stores in the first trimester were 228 mg, with 37.5% of women having absent stores. Comparable figures in the second and third trimesters were 74 mg and -92 mg respectively. The fact that many were iron deficient in the first trimester indicates a high frequency of iron deficiency in non-pregnant women in this population group. Although 20.8% of the women had red cell folate values below the normal range for non-pregnant subjects, folate deficiency did not appear to be a significant problem. Vitamin B12 deficiency was very uncommon. |
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