Maternal hemoglobin: socio-demographic and obstetric determinants in rural Central India

Background: Maternal Anemia is a global health problem with adverse implications on materno-fetal outcome. Various socio-demographic and obstetric factors affect prevalence of anemia.Methods: A hospital based, cross-sectional, observational study was carried out among pregnant women seeking antenatal care at Kasturba Hospital of MGIMS, Sewagram, a rural tertiary care institute in central India. Information was collected about demographic variables, age, gravidity, parity, literacy, area of residence and socioeconomic status. Hemoglobin levels in first trimester and pre delivery were measured by coulter and correlated with socio-demographic and obstetric factors.Results: Among 500 pregnant women of first trimester, 249 (49.8%) had anemia, 154 (30.8%) mild, 86 (17.2%) moderate and 9 (1.8%) severe anemia. More women with anemia were of lesser age, resided in rural area, belonged to middle and lower economic class, lived with joint families and had less than 12 years of formal education.Conclusions: Anemia is prevalent in pregnant women in this geographic region of central India. Age, higher gravidity, higher parity, rural residence, low socioeconomic status and less than 12 years of formal education, are risk factors. Appropriate age at marriage, small family norm, education of girl child, anemia prevention strategy in adolescent girls and financial empowerment of women are suggested strategies for prevention of anemia and improved maternofetal outcome

Newborn birth weight: a trend towards positive paradigm shift in rural central India

Background: Birth weight is one of the important determinants of neonatal wellbeing. It has many determinants including maternal nutritional status and gestational age. Low birth weight is associated with high neonatal and childhood mortality and morbidity. Over the years the birth weight is showing the increasing trend in developing countries like India. The study aimed at finding out the changing pattern of birth weight over a decade in rural India.Methods: Retrospective data of 43,114 births was collected through hospital information system. Neonatal birth weight was analyzed over a period of 10 years from 2007-2016. Demographic data was studied to study the determinants.Results: Over the period of 10 years, proportion of newborn with low birth weight (below 2500 grams) declined from 56.35 % to 43.65 %. The rise in mean birth weight was 147 gram in male infant and 114 grams in female. There was overall reduction in proportion of very low birth weight and extremely low birth weight babies. A linear relationship was observed between improved birth weight, socio economic status, age at marriage and maternal weight gain during pregnancy.Conclusions: A positive trend towards improved newborn birth weight was observed in study site of rural central India. Better antenatal care, improved maternal nutrition and improved social status of women in the community are the determinants found to have a positive correlation

Maternal hemoglobin: socio-demographic and obstetric determinants in rural Central India

Background: Maternal Anemia is a global health problem with adverse implications on materno-fetal outcome. Various socio-demographic and obstetric factors affect prevalence of anemia.Methods: A hospital based, cross-sectional, observational study was carried out among pregnant women seeking antenatal care at Kasturba Hospital of MGIMS, Sewagram, a rural tertiary care institute in central India. Information was collected about demographic variables, age, gravidity, parity, literacy, area of residence and socioeconomic status. Hemoglobin levels in first trimester and pre delivery were measured by coulter and correlated with socio-demographic and obstetric factors.Results: Among 500 pregnant women of first trimester, 249 (49.8%) had anemia, 154 (30.8%) mild, 86 (17.2%) moderate and 9 (1.8%) severe anemia. More women with anemia were of lesser age, resided in rural area, belonged to middle and lower economic class, lived with joint families and had less than 12 years of formal education.Conclusions: Anemia is prevalent in pregnant women in this geographic region of central India. Age, higher gravidity, higher parity, rural residence, low socioeconomic status and less than 12 years of formal education, are risk factors. Appropriate age at marriage, small family norm, education of girl child, anemia prevention strategy in adolescent girls and financial empowerment of women are suggested strategies for prevention of anemia and improved maternofetal outcome

Newborn birth weight: a trend towards positive paradigm shift in rural central India

Background: Birth weight is one of the important determinants of neonatal wellbeing. It has many determinants including maternal nutritional status and gestational age. Low birth weight is associated with high neonatal and childhood mortality and morbidity. Over the years the birth weight is showing the increasing trend in developing countries like India. The study aimed at finding out the changing pattern of birth weight over a decade in rural India.Methods: Retrospective data of 43,114 births was collected through hospital information system. Neonatal birth weight was analyzed over a period of 10 years from 2007-2016. Demographic data was studied to study the determinants.Results: Over the period of 10 years, proportion of newborn with low birth weight (below 2500 grams) declined from 56.35 % to 43.65 %. The rise in mean birth weight was 147 gram in male infant and 114 grams in female. There was overall reduction in proportion of very low birth weight and extremely low birth weight babies. A linear relationship was observed between improved birth weight, socio economic status, age at marriage and maternal weight gain during pregnancy.Conclusions: A positive trend towards improved newborn birth weight was observed in study site of rural central India. Better antenatal care, improved maternal nutrition and improved social status of women in the community are the determinants found to have a positive correlation

Needleless electrospun phytochemicals encapsulated nanofibre based 3-ply biodegradable mask for combating COVID-19 pandemic

The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected human health and world economies. According to WHO guidelines, continuous use of face mask is mandatory for personal protection for restricting the spread of bacteria and virus. Here, we report a 3-ply cotton-PLA-cotton layered biodegradable face-mask containing encapsulated phytochemicals in the inner-filtration layer. The nano-fibrous PLA filtration layer was fabricated using needleless electrospinning of PLA & phytochemical-based herba extracts. This 3-layred face mask exhibits enhanced air permeability with a differential pressure of 35.78 Pa/cm2 and superior bacterial filtration efficiency of 97.9% compared to conventional face masks. Close-packed mesh structure of the nano-fibrous mat results in effective adsorption of particulate matter, aerosol particles, and bacterial targets deep inside the filtration layer. The outer hydrophobic layer of mask exhibited effective blood splash resistance up to a distance of 30 cm, ensuring its utilization for medical practices. Computational analysis of constituent phytochemicals using the LibDock algorithm predicted inhibitory activity of chemicals against the protein structured bacterial sites. The computational analysis projected superior performance of phytochemicals considering the presence of stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and Arachidic acid exhibiting structural complementarity to inhibit targeted bacterial interface. Natural cotton fibers and PLA bio-polymer demonstrated promising biodegradable characteristics in the presence of in-house cow-dung based biodegradation slurry. Addition of jaggery to the slurry elevated the biodegradation performance, resulting in increment of change of weight from 07% to 12%. The improved performance was attributed to the increased sucrose content in biodegradation slurry, elevating the bacterial growth in the slurry. An innovative face mask has shown promising results for utilization in day-to-day life and medical frontline workers, considering the post-pandemic environmental impacts