Hematological profile of pregnant women at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: In pregnancy, hematological changes occur in order to meet the demands of the developing fetus and placenta, with major alterations in blood volume. Abnormal hematological profile affects pregnancy and its outcome. This study aimed to assess hematological profiles of pregnant women at a tertiary care teaching hospital. METHOD: This cross sectional study was conducted among 284 consecutive pregnant women at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College. Socio-demographic characteristics were collected using pre-tested structured questionnaire. About 4 ml of venous blood was collected from each participant for hematological parameters analysis using Cell-Dyn1800 (Abbott Laboratories Diagnostics Division, USA) and peripheral blood film review. RESULT: There were differences in mean hematological parameters between trimesters: specifically differences in mean values of WBC (1(st)and 3rd), Hb(1stand2(nd) and 1(st)& 3rd), HCT (1(st)and2nd), RDW (1(st)and2(nd) and 1(st)and3rd), neutrophil and lymphocyte (1stand 2nd and 1(st)and3(rd,) for both) were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The prevalence rates of anemia and thrombocytopenia were 11.62 and 7.7%, respectively and were dominantly of mild type. On the bases of blood picture, we classified anemia’s of pregnancy as microcytic hypochromic (51.5%), normocytic hypochromic (27.3%), normocytic normochromic (18.2%), and dimorphic (3%). CONCLUSION: Significant changes in selected hematological parameters between trimesters, and an anemia and thrombocytopenia of mild type were documented in this study. The commonest morphologic features were mostly characteristic features of iron deficiency anemia. These warrant the need for monitoring hematological parameters of pregnant women at any stage of the pregnancy to avoid adverse outcomes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12878-018-0111-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.