Effect of maternal anemia on cord blood haemoglobin of newborn

Background: Anemia during pregnancy is linked to major maternal and fetal problems. The aim of the study was to find any correlation between maternal anemia and neonatal cord blood haemoglobin (Hb) levels.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in the department of pediatrics and department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Hind Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki over 9 months from January 2021 to September 2021. A total of 308 pregnant females more than 34 weeks of gestation who delivered participated in the study and cord blood hemoglobin of their new-born was collected. The mean maternal hemoglobin and mean cord blood hemoglobin were compared using the Pearson correlation coefficient in different groups i.e., non-anemic, anemic, mild, moderate, and severe anemic groups.  Results: Out of 308 pregnant women, 198 (64.3%) were anemic, and 110 (35.7%) were nonanemic. The mean maternal hemoglobin among non-anemic mothers and anemic mothers was 11.91 (0.70) and 9.14 (1.56) respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient of non-anemic, anemic, mild, moderate, and severe anemic groups were 0.6985, 0.8453, 0.7772, 0.6321, and 0.7226 respectively with a statistically significant p value<0.05 showing a positive correlation between maternal hemoglobin and cord hemoglobin.Conclusions: From this study, we concluded that maternal anemia affects neonatal cord blood hemoglobin. According to the findings, anemic women deliver new-born with lower hemoglobin levels than non-anemic mothers. The findings revealed a linear correlation between maternal hemoglobin and cord blood hemoglobin of their new-born.

Study of risk factors and perinatal outcome in meconium stained deliveries from a district of Uttar Pradesh, India

Background: The objective is to identify the risk factors of Meconium stained deliveries and evaluate the perinatal outcomes in Meconium Stained deliveries.Methods: This prospective observational study included those pregnant women who had completed 37 weeks of gestation, with singleton pregnancies with cephalic presentations and with no known fetal congenital anomalies. Among these, we selected 110 cases with Meconium stained amniotic fluid and they were compared with 110 randomly selected controls.Results: Regular antenatal visits were seen in 22.73 % of the cases while 77.27% cases had no previous visit. Majority of cases were primigravida and gestational ages of >40 weeks was seen in 55.45 % cases. 19.09% cases had meconium staining among pregnancies complicated with pregnancy induced hypertension, as compared to those among controls (5.45%). Fetal heart rate abnormalities were seen in 29.09% cases, and statistically significant fetal bradycardia was seen in cases. Caesarean section rates were nearly double in cases (54.55%). Poor perinatal outcome was found in cases as seen in results by low Apgar score (40 weeks, pregnancy induced hypertension and fetal bradycardia, increased cesarean section rates, low APGAR score and higher incidence of birth asphyxia and NICU admissions. Meconium aspiration syndrome was associated with early neonatal death