A developing a care system for pregnant women with anemia in Pueai Noi District Khon Kaen province

Abstract

Anemia in pregnant women is a major public health problem in Thailand and Khon Kaen Province. In 2022, the number of pregnant women with anemia in Pueai Noi District, Khon Kaen Province was as high as 22.92 percent. Anemia in pregnant women puts pregnant women at risk of infection, premature birth, and complications during or after childbirth, such as postpartum hemorrhage, which can be life-threatening. The impact on the baby is that premature babies have low birth weight and require long hospitalization, resulting in delayed development. The main cause of anemia is iron deficiency before pregnancy and insufficient iron intake during pregnancy. The Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health has a policy to encourage all pregnant women to receive iron supplements during pregnancy to reduce iron deficiency. There are guidelines for giving iron supplements according to the severity of anemia. is a less severe level Follow-up assessments are conducted before and after receiving iron supplements. Pueai Noi Hospital has used this policy to develop guidelines for the care of pregnant women with anemia in Pueai Noi District in fiscal year 2023, with the following operational processes: 1) Organizing training for personnel involved in the assessment of anemia, 2)Classifying anemia in pregnant women, 3) Monitoring hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, 4) Referral system to the main hospital, and 5) Providing knowledge to pregnant women and involving relatives in taking iron supplements. The development results found that the number of pregnant women with anemia in Pueai Noi District decreased to 10.8 percent