Nair M, et al. - In England, researchers investigated the association of maternal haemoglobin with stillbirth and perinatal death in a multi-ethnic population. In women with moderate-severe anaemia (haemoglobin <100 g/l) at first visit and 28 weeks, respectively, the risk of stillbirth and perinatal death was five- and three-fold higher than women with haemoglobin ≥110 g/l.

Methods

• A retrospective cohort analysis was performed using anonymised maternity data from 14,001 women with singleton pregnancies ≥24 weeks’ gestation giving birth between 2013 and 2015 in two hospitals - the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Guy's and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
• Researchers performed multivariable logistic regression analyses to analyse the associations between maternal haemoglobin at first visit and at 28 weeks with stillbirth and perinatal death, adjusting for 11 other risk factors.

Results

• Findings revealed anaemia (haemoglobin <110 g/l) in 46% of the study population at some point during their pregnancy.
• They recognized linear decrease in the risk of stillbirth and perinatal death with per unit increase in haemoglobin concentration at first visit (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] stillbirth = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58–0.85, aOR perinatal death = 0.71, 95% CI 0.60–0.84) and at 28 weeks (aOR stillbirth = 0·83, 95% CI 0.66–1.04; aOR perinatal death = 0.86, 95%CI 0.67–1.12).