Mumbai 2nd city with most anaemic pregnant women

Anaemia in pregnant women is dangerous, to both the mother and the baby, if it goes untreated. Prevalence of anemia in pregnant women in the state has proved to be a major concern. In April, around 822 pregnant women were diagonised with anaemia in Mumbai, while Maharashtra reported over 3,289 cases.

As per the Health Management Information System (HMIS) 6,924 pregnant women in Mumbai were diagnosed with anaemia out of which 6,802 were from public hospitals, and 122 cases were from private hospitals.

In the state of Maharashtra, Mumbai ranks second with most anaemia cases in pregnant women.

Between April 2017 and March 2018, around 78,143 pregnant women are recorded to be anaemic in Maharashtra, the highest number of cases were diagnosed in Nashik with 8,435 cases.

Dr Kamakshi Bhatefrom community medicine department at KEM Hospital, said, "Anemia mainly results from lack of iron and can lead to a low red blood cell count. In India, 50 per cent of people suffers from anaemia, and 80 per cent of them are pregnant women. A higher prevalence was observed in rural areas."

Last yearbetween March 2017 and April 2018, Maharashtra ranked fourth in the country with 78,143 cases of anaemia in pregnant women. An alarming number of 10,47,434 pregnant women were diagnosed with anaemia in the country.

She further added, "Anaemia mainly occurs due to unbalanced nutrition and dficiency of folic acid. Heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding can be another cause."