INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION:  The world health organisation (WHO) index for anaemia in pregnance is when the haemoglobin  level in the peripheral blood is Hg/dl or less. However, from practical experience in tropical obstetrics it is generally accepted that anaemia in pregnancy Exist when the Haemoglobin level is less than in loglde or the packed cell volume less than 30%

EPIDEMOOGY:

Anaemia in pregnancy presents a world-wide problem but it is uncommon in developed world.  the importance of anaemia in pregnancy in the tropics lies firstly in its greatly increased incidence, and secondly in the seventy of the anaemia with which the patients commonly present for treatment.  Both combine to make this complication of pregnancy a major cause of matanal and fetal death in the tropics.  A third important problem  posed by anaemia in the tropics is polymorphism.  In almost all cales, the anaemia is caused by multiple factors whole individual importance varies from area to area.  This makes rational prophylaxis and treatment much more difficult.  Complicaion of pregnancy in the for at belt of West Africa, between January and April 1955.  it was directly responsible for more than 20% of all matanal deaths in patients under the car of the Department of obstetrics, university college Hospital, Ibadan.  It also contributed to many other deaths from Antepartum haemorrhage, postpartum haemorrhage and puerperal sepsis.  In Nigeria it is a frequent complication, its incidence is high and its severity is staggering.  The clinical feathers of anaemia in pregnancy in Nigeira are different from those encountered in temperate countries not only because of the severity of symptoms but also because of the concomitant autuminosis such as marked glossitis, Angular stomatitis and associated gross hepatomegly.  Agbola A. (1991)

CLASSIFICATION

Anaemia in pregnancy could be mild, moderate or severe based on the haemoglobin level in the peripheral blood as well as the clinical manifestations and the management would differ for each.