الفهرس 
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Abstract
Anemia is a public health problem that affects populations in both rich
and poor countries .
Anaemia (defined by the World Health Organization as haemoglobin
levels of < 11 g/dl ) is one of the world’s leading causes of disability,
and thus one of the most serious global public health problems.
Anaemia affects nearly half of all pregnant women in the world: 52% in developing countries compared with 23% in the developed world . The most common causes of anaemia are poor nutrition, deficiencies of iron and other micronutrients , malaria , hookworm disease , and schistosomiasis ; HIV infection and haemoglobinopathies are additional factors .The most common cause is iron deficiency. It usually occurs due to low iron stores prior to pregnancy. The growing foetus depletes what stores there are and takes priority for any iron available. It is important to remember that increased iron requirements continue after the birth of the baby due to blood loss and breastfeeding .Women who experienced heavy menstruation and those who became pregnant soon after the birth of a child are at particular risk of becoming anemic in pregnancy .
The aims of this study were measurement the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women attending governmental antenatal care clinics in Alniaryah province and determination of the associated epidemiological features.
A cross sectional records review study was conducted in the two primary health care facilities in Alniaryah province- Eastern Saudi Arabia to measure the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women , for all records of pregnant women for completed two years started from( 1/1/1433, till 1/1/1435H ) – (27/11/2011,till 5/11/2013G ) .The total number of records of pregnant women studied was 510.
Out of those, 510 pregnant women investigated ,140 were found to be anemic. Based on Hb level , the overall prevalence rate of anemia(Hemoglobin level <11 g/dl) among the studied population was(27.45%).
Studied pregnant women were classified into two groups’ anemic group
and normal group(non-anemic).
There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups as regard history of blood transfusion in the anemic group compared to
the normal group.
The proportion of women who had spacing between pregnancies was
higher in the normal group compared to anemic group and this difference was statistically significant . Difference in type of previous delivery
between the two groups was also statistically significant with higher
proportion of vaginal delivery among the normal group.
from logistic regression analysis, it’s clear that, the history of use of
contraceptive methods other than oral contraceptive pills and intrauterine
contraceptive device( Insulation, Condom, foam, gel, etc… ) is a
predictor of anemia during pregnancy, where women using these methods
are predicted to suffer from anemia during pregnancy 2.94 times as
women not using contraception .
To reduce prevalence of anemia among pregnant women, there is a need
for further analytic house hold studies for measuring the actual size of the
problem, impact on pregnancy outcome and to answer the questionable
epidemiological factors raised from the current study .Also, there is a
need for health educational programs to improve public awareness of the
causes of anemia during pregnancy and healthy dietary habits, strength
health care seeking behavior of women to ensure early diagnosis and
management of anemia. Also, to reduce prevalence of anemia among pregnant women, meticulous follow up, regular blood investigation
every ANC visit for pregnant at risk, calling by phone for defaulter and
emphasis should be placed on pregnant women to use prophylactic
elemental iron and folic acid sublimation, specially its offered freely .