Post-partum anemia and factors that work against alleviation of the anemia

This study aimed to clarify conditions of women experiencing post-partum anemia and identify factors that work against the alleviation of anemia.

This was a retrospective longitudinal study, involving 246 women giving birth at five participating institutions, diagnosed with anemia on day 3 post-partum, and given a blood sample at the medical examination 1 month after the birth. With answers about alleviation of anemia during the 1 month post-partum period as an objective variable, and explanatory variables, multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. The explanatory variables included demographic data of the participants, information about anemia, following the nutrition instruction advice for anemia alleviation, family structure and others assisting the participants, and self-management skills (measured by the Self-Management Skill [SMS] scale).

The present authors collected 211 valid responses; the average age was 32.6 years. The mean hemoglobin values on the 3rd and 30th days post-partum were 9.6 and 12.0 g/dL, respectively. One fifth of the participants (21.3%) showed no anemia alleviation. The mean value on the SMS scale was 28.35, and the anemia alleviated group (30.78) was significantly higher than the non-alleviated group (19.38). Results of the multiple logistic regression analysis showed a strong relationship between anemia risk and self-management skills. The absence of anemia alleviation increased 2.51 times as the total score of the SMS decreased 1 point.

There is an urgent need to develop an intervention program to alleviate post-partum anemia focusing on the low score items because self-management skills strongly affect alleviation improvement.