Anemia in pregnancy - Causes and effects

The occurrence of anemia in pregnancy is a common complication, but rarely serious. Its incidence varies considerably depending on the criteria used for diagnosis.

What is anemia in pregnancy and what causes it ?

Anemia is defined as decreasing the amount of the protein hemoglobin or oxygen-carrying red blood cells. It is believed that anemia in pregnancy, when the amount of this protein in the blood is less than 11 grams per deciliter.

Pregnancy is a condition which predisposes to a number of changes in the blood, mainly because it increases the amount of fluid flowing through the blood vessels, resulting in a thinning of the blood and the red blood cells. The more common mild form of this type of anemia are considered physiological, and therefore untreated.

The most important and common cause of anemia in pregnancy is iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia.

How is it produced ?

These are common symptoms such as fatigue or tiredness, pale skin and mucous membranes of the eyes and mouth, dizziness, trouble breathing when efforts are moderate or large, palpitations and tachycardia, or fast heart rhythm.

Effects on the fetus

Mild or moderate anemia in pregnancy rarely causes significant effects on the fetus, but in case of severe anemia (hemoglobin less than seven grams per deciliter) the fetus can be harmed and damaged. We found that in these cases the percentage of abortion or premature birth, perinatal mortality, postpartum infections, etc...

How is it diagnosed ?

The diagnosis of anemia in pregnancy due to iron deficiency is relatively simple, because after the medical history of a patient and learn your signs and symptoms, you can request a routine blood test that indicates whether the anemia in pregnancy and if it is caused by iron deficiency or other cause. Usually other tests are needed.

How is it treated ?

Treatment of anemia in pregnancy is logically deficient minerals management, in this case iron. Usually given as tablets or ferrous salt by water blisters, anemia in pregnancy is usually diagnosed until it resolves over gestation and often also in the postpartum period.

In any case, as already noted above, preventive measures such as nutrition and additional iron supplements can prevent the development of anemia in pregnancy.

Other types of anemia

Although the most common cause of anemia in pregnancy is iron deficiency, other types of anemia produced by showing a lack of vitamin B12 and is called megaloblastic anemia because RBCs are larger than normal. Treatment of this type of anemia is the administration of vitamin B12, which must be administered intramuscularly as vitamin B12 would be destroyed in the stomach when administered orally.

There are other types of anemia ranged (produced by folic acid deficiency), fortunately rare and will not be discussed in this article.