Objectives
To assess the prevalence of anemia and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care service in public health centers of Kembata Tembaro zone, Southern Ethiopia.Specific Objectives. To determine the prevalence of anemia among pregnant mothers in the study area from August to September 2014.2. To identify the factors associated with anemia in pregnant mothers in the study area from August to September 2014.
Methods
: Institution based cross sectional study was held in public health centers of Kembata Tembaro zone, SNNPR Ethiopia from August to September 2014. Study institutions were randomly selected. Data was collected from 423 pregnant women. The World Health Organization standard (Hb <11g/dl) was used to determine anemia status in pregnancy. Hemocue was used for determining the hemoglobin levels of the study groups. A pretested interviewer-administered close ended questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was entered and cleaned using Epi info version 3.5.1 and analysis was done using SPSS for windows version 20. Frequencies, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used for the descriptive analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to control potential confounders and to explore association between dependent and independent variables.
Results
The present study revealed that an overall prevalence of anemia was 18%. About 43.3, 27.2, 16.3 and 13.2% of the pregnant women visited the health centers for ANC follow up for the first, second, third and for four and above times, respectively during the current pregnancy. About 119 (28.1%) of women consumed
Conclusions
Anemia was of mild public health concern in the study area. The uptake of ANC service for the recommended number of visits and IFA supplementation and the diet diversity was low in the pregnant ladies from the study area. Thus, community mobilization and health education to improve the uptake of the ANC and family planning services available in the health centers, increase micronutrient intake through food based and economic approaches and control of infections are recommended.
