Lack of awareness leading to complications in pregnant women

The analysis carried out by Bharati Hospital's obstetrics and gynaecology department has revealed that average intake of diet in pregnant women is lacking both in terms of calorie count and nutritional content. More than 90 per cent of women surveyed were found to be having the same issue.

Pic/Sachin Thakare

Doctors from the hospital had studied 200 women admitted there owing to one abnormality or another during pregnancy, and most of them hailed from underprivileged sections. Dr Girija Wagh, head of gynaecology department at Bharti Hospital said, "We have come across numerous cases of complications, and we conducted the survey to find out probable causes. We decided to ascertain whether or not the women were receiving the optimum diet with adequate nutritional content," she said.

All the women sampled were observed for a period of one year. "Those admitted in the antenatal ward had pregnancy-associated illnesses such as anaemia, preterm delivery and pre-eclampsia. We started collecting information about their diet, what and how much food they have. After that we carried out energy count to ascertain the amount of kilocalories they consumed," Wagh added.

A pregnant woman requires at least 2,200 kilocalories, but those surveyed had a much lower intake. "Many women we studied had average intake in the range of 650 to 1,250 kilocalories. This is very shocking," the doctor said. The medical practitioners also tried to find out the reason behind this. "We have come to the conclusion that there is considerable lack of awareness. There are also issues pertaining to family planning. That they were lacking money for food was not the case."u00a0