Compliance of iron and folic acid supplementation and status of anaemia during pregnancy in the Eastern Terai of Nepal: findings from hospital based cross sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Our study aimed to assess local data for compliance with IFA supplementation and prevalence of anaemia among the pregnant mothers visiting government health facilities of eastern Nepal. Results In our study samples, IFA compliance rate was 58% during pregnancy and 42% were anaemic. Anemia was 24 times more likely to occur in IFA noncompliant women during pregnancy than their counterparts (aOR = 24.2, 95% CI 10.1–58.3), and anemia was three times less likely to be found in those taking foods rich in heme–iron than their counterparts (aOR = 3.3, 95% CI 1.4–8.1).

Keywords

• Iron and folic acid supplementation
• Compliance
• Anaemia during pregnancy