The pregnancy outcome in patients with minor β-Thalassemia

Abstract EN

Background: Physiologic alterations during pregnancy worsen the anemia severity, and they are associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction, low birth weight, and preterm birth.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine pregnancy outcomes in women with minor β‑thalassemia.

Materials and Methods: A total of fifty women who attended the consultation clinic of Azadi Teaching Hospital for antenatal care visit were screened consecutively and included in the present cross‑sectional study in Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan.

The patients were followed up until delivery for pregnancy outcomes from May 20, 2018 to February 10, 2019.

Results: About 14.0% of the patients had a history of baby death.

The most prevalent clinical features were anemia (18.0%) and a history of preeclampsia (16.0%).

Most of the patients had undergone a trial of normal vaginal delivery (80.0%), and 14.3% of their newborns were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Only one of newborns died at 5 min following delivery due to a low Apgar score.

The study showed that neonates who were admitted to the NICU had lower Apgar scores after 1 and 5 min compared to nonadmitted group (5.71 and 6.71 vs.

7.24 and 9.29, respectively).

The mothers of the neonates who were admitted to the NICU had a higher prevalence of previous dead baby (42.9%; P = 0.031), previous history of preeclampsia (57.1%; P = 0.005), and more likely to undergone cesarean section (C/S) (71.4%; P = 0.001).

Conclusions: The present investigation suggests that the β‑thalassemia newborn admitted to the NICU had a higher prevalence of clinical issues compared to those not admitted to the NICU.