Revista Sextante

Household Food-Related Hardship and Maternal Anaemia among Women Delivering at Tertiary Care Hospitals in Multan, Pakistan

Syed Hassan Raza

Department of Public Health, TIMES University, Multan, Pakistan

Muhammad Asif

Department of Public Health, TIMES University, Multan, Pakistan

Keywords: Food-related hardship, iron supplementation, maternal anaemia, maternal nutrition, Multan, socioeconomic factors

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Abstract

Climate Maternal anaemia and household food-related hardship are important considerations in maternal and newborn health. The current hospital based cross-sectional study included socioeconomic status and assessment of anaemia, iron availability and the food available to mothers who gave birth to children at two tertiary care hospitals in Multan, Pakistan. There were 270 mothers who were recruited using consecutive sampling. A structured questionnaire was used for the collection of data and were analysed using descriptive data frequency, percentage, mean and median. The mean maternal age was 27.81 ± 5.07 years, and 142 mothers (52.6%) lived in rural areas. The monthly income of the participants was less than PKR 20,000 for 58 (21.5%) individuals. 98 mothers (36.3%) had been recorded as having anaemia during pregnancy and 91 mothers (33.7%) were recorded with a pregnancy complication. Haemoglobin level was recorded in 257 mothers (95.2%) with the concentration of haemoglobin as 11.54 ± 1.34 g/dL. Furthermore, 170 mothers (63.0%) reported taking iron supplements, with 125 (46.3% of total mothers) taking iron daily. For 85 mothers (31.5%) ferritin testing was available, and 31.8% (8) of these had a recorded diagnosis of iron deficiency. Out of the 98 mothers who reported sometimes or often that they were unable to afford balanced meals, 65 (24.1%) reported that they were eating less due to financial limitation. Moreover, 124 mothers (45.9%) reported their level of access as not consistent. The findings reflect nutrition-related indicators of mothers in the sample recruited at the hospital and food-related hardship of these mothers.