Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors for Anemia in Pregnant Women in White Nile State, Sudan: A Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Anemia during pregnancy can lead to several adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. Despite preventive measures, anemia during pregnancy remains a threatening health problem, especially in sub-Saharan African countries. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the prevalence of, and factors associated with, anemia among pregnant women at Rabak Maternity Hospital, Sudan. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving pregnant women who presented to Rabak Maternity Hospital from September to December 2021. Questionnaires were completed via face-to-face interviews to gather both obstetric and sociodemographic information (i.e., age, parity, history of miscarriage, education, level of antenatal care), and hemoglobin levels were estimated. A logistic regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: The median (interquartile range) of the age and parity of the 208 women enrolled in the study was 25 (21.0–30.0) years and 2 (1–4), respectively. Forty-five (21.6%) women did not use iron-folic acid during the index pregnancy. Eighty-eight (42.3%) women had anemia, and four (1.9%) had severe anemia. In the univariate analysis, age, parity, history of miscarriage, interpregnancy interval, education, and antenatal care level were shown not to be associated with anemia. A higher number of women with anemia did not use iron-folic acid during the index pregnancy than those without anemia (29/80 [33.0%] vs. 16/120 [13.3%], respectively, p = .001). Not taking iron-folic acid was found to be associated with anemia in the multivariate analysis (adjusted odds ratio = 3.19, 95% confidence interval = 1.60–6.63). CONCLUSION: Anemia was found to be a major health problem among the pregnant women in this study. There is no clear evidence across the women with anemia that their anemia stems from lack of using iron-folic acid (in fact, some women used iron-folic acid and they were anemic). There is a possibility that using iron-folic acid may prevent anemia in this part of Sudan.