Background. In pregnancy, anemia is an important factor associated with an increased risk ofmaternal, fetal, and neonatalmortality,\npoor pregnancy outcomes, and impaired cognitive development, particularly in developing countries like Ethiopia. This study\naimed to assess prevalence and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at St. Paulâ??s\nHospital MillenniumMedical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method. A cross-sectional health facility based study was conducted\non 284 pregnant women to assess prevalence and factors associated with anemia at St. Paulâ??s Hospital MillenniumMedical College\nfrom June to August 2014. Data on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the study participants were collected using a\npretested structured questionnaire by interviewandreviewofmedical records. About 4 ml of venous blood was collected fromeach\nsubject for peripheral blood film and complete blood counts (CBC). Binary Logistic regression analysis had been used to check for\nassociation between dependent and independent variables. In all cases,P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.\nResult.The prevalence of anemia was found to be 11.6% (95 % CI; 7.8%-14.8%). Pregnant women in the second [AOR (95% CI), 6.72\n(1.17-38.45), and P=0.03] and third trimester [AOR (95% CI), 8.31 (1.24-55.45), and P=0.029] were more likely to be anemic when\ncompared to pregnant women in their first trimester. Pregnant women who did not receive iron/folic acid supplementation [AOR\n(95%CI), 4.03(1.49-10.92), and P=0.01] were more likely to be anemicwhen compared to pregnant women who did take supplementations.\nConclusion. In this study the prevalence of anemia in pregnancy was low compared to the findings of others. Gestational\nage (trimester) and iron/folic acid supplementation were statistically associated with anemia. Therefore, iron supplementation and\nhealth education to create awareness about the importance of early booking for antenatal care are recommended to reduce anemia.
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