Scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that severe anemia is associated with a seven-fold increase in the risk of death or life-threatening bleeding after childbirth. Research published in the journal Lancet Global Health.
More than 10.5 thousand women who gave birth from Pakistan, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia participated in the clinical study. Researchers found that a 10-gram drop in hemoglobin per liter of blood just before birth increased the risk of life-threatening bleeding after birth by 23%.
Pregnant women with severe anemia (70 or less grams of hemoglobin per liter of blood) are seven times more likely to die than women with moderate anemia (70-99 grams of hemoglobin per liter of blood).
Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia. Inadequate access to a healthy diet, infectious diseases (such as malaria or HIV), and heavy menstrual bleeding are the main causes of iron deficiency in young women.
Severe postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death, killing more than 70,000 women each year, mostly in low- or middle-income countries.
ancient scientists discovered factor that increases the risk of Alzheimer’s in women.