Objective: To determine the magnitude of malaria infection and anaemia
among pregnant women in Kigoma Municipality, western Tanzania. Setting:
An urban maternal and child health clinic (MCH) located in the Kigoma
Municility in western Tanzania. Methods: A cross-sectional study was
conducted in an urban MCH clinic in Kigoma Municility. Informed consent
to participate in the study was sought from each pregnant woman.
Consenting Pregnant women were interviewed to solicit for
socio-demographic characteristics and information relating to use of
malaria preventive measures. The women were also examined for anaemia
and malaria parasitaemia. At delivery, the women were also examined for
malaria infection of the placenta. The research was cleared by the
Ethical Clearance Committee of the Muhimbili University College of
Health Sciences, Dar es Salaam. Data were managed and analysed using
SPSS/PC+ for windows. Results: The mean age of the pregnant women was
26.7 years (SD = 5.4) with the youngest woman being 14 years and the
oldest being 45 years. The response proportion to participate in the
study was 96.7% (N= 705). It was found that 8.4% of the women examined
had asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia while2.8% had malaria infection
of the placenta. Women with placental malaria were more likely to
deliver low birth weight babies than others (8.8% versus 2.1%. Pregnant
women who reported using bednets were less likely to have placental
malaria compared to those not using bednet (2.2% versus 3.3%).
Similarly, pregnant women who reported using bednets were less likely
to have asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia than others (5.9% versus
10.4%). Conclusions: We conclude that placental malaria occurs in
Kigoma municipality and it appears that use of bednets might be an
effective strategy in controlling malaria among pregnant women in
Tanzania