Assessment of B12 in the Pregnant Women and their Correlation with the Blood Hemoglobin

Various nutrients such as vitamins, carbohydrates etc. are required during pregnancy. Among different classes of vitamins, Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is the most important during pregnanacy. Hence, the present study aims to study the correlation between the serum B12 and blood hemoglobin in the pregnant women. This study included 60 pregnant women enrolled in Kerbala maternity teaching hospitalin January 2019 to April 2019. The pregnant women with 23^rd to 25^thgestational week were included in the present study. Fasting blood was collected and analysed for Vitamin B12 levels. The parameters like child birth weight, type of delivery and duration of pregnancy was recorded. Some social, demographic characteristics such as monthly income, education level, marital status, previous number of pregnancies etc. were also recorded. Average weeks of child delivery were found to be about 35.72 and 38.10 weeks in women with vitamin B 12 supplementation and healthy women, respectively. The vitamin B12 content was significantly lower (234.0±52.23 pg/ml) in the B12 deficient group as compared to healthy control (495.8±42.09 pg/ml). The blood hemoglobin levels was significantly lower (11.07±0.94 g/dl) in the B12 deficient group as compared to healthy control (14.38±0.58 g/dl). The vitamin B12 deficiency was associated anaemic condition in the mother which inturn affect the birth weight of the child. The vitamin B12 level should be monitored before planning of pregnancy.