Correspondence
Dr.Shyamapada Paul (Director)
Rural Research Institute of Physiology & Applied Nutrition (RRIPAN)
‘Gitanjali’, Dr. Nilay Paul Road, Midnapore – 721 101,
West Bengal, India.
E-mail: paul_shyamapada@rediffmail.com

Anaemia in pregnancy is a frequent manifestation and an important health problem in the developing countries. A hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among 246 pregnant Bauri women, to assess the prevalence of anaemia. The study was carried out at the Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital, Bankura, West Bengal, India during June to August 2010. Only the pregnant Bauri women who visited the hospital were enrolled in the study. Anaemia was classified as per the World Health Organization (WHO) grading criteria. The present study revealed that all the participants were anaemic and their mean haemoglobin (Hb) concentration level was low (9.72±1.98 g/dl). In a majority (72.76%) of the subjects, the Hb level was lies between 9.1 g/dl to 9.5 g/dl. In all, most of the women (91.46%) had moderately anaemic where mild anaemia and severe anaemia were 8.54% and 0.81%, respectively. This study demonstrated that anaemia was present at substantial level among the pregnant Bauri women of Bankura, West Bengal.These findings are useful for our maternal health program planners and implementers to target and evaluate the interventions.

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