[Anemia in pregnancy. Clinical and biological study. Apropos of 463 cases seen in Lubumbashi (Zaire)].

A clinical and biological study was conducted between September 1, 1983 and August 31, 1984, at the Sendwe Maternity Hospital in Lubumbashi, concerning anemia in pregnant women. This prospective study showed that 41.90 p. cent of women in this series are anemic. Per order of frequency, the anemia was normocytic in 291 patients (62.85 p. cent), microcytic in 216 (25.04 p. cent) and macrocytic in 56 (12.10 p. cent). Among the etiological factors, the most important are: poor socioeconomic development, multiple intestinal parasites and malaria. Moreover, it should be pointed out that young primiparous women represent 36 p. cent of the cases, or more than one-third of the population. In anemias occurring during pregnancy, the fetus is more vulnerable than the mother. He is the victim of a number of accidents, the most frequent in this series being intrauterine growth delay.