Changes in Haematological Indices in Normal Pregnancy

Abstract

Variation in some haematological indices during normal pregnancy was investigated. The test group comprised 200 pregnant women who presented themselves at the Capitol Hill Clinic Warri, Delta State, Nigeria, for antenatal care while the control group comprised 80 nonpregnant women randomly selected from the student population in Delta State University, Abraka. Data generated from the pretest questionnaire indicated that 55.8% of the research participants experienced an increase in appetite. The analysis of haematological indices was done using automated hematological analyzer. The result from the study showed that there was a significant decrease ( P < 0.05 ) in the PCV of the test group ( 32.58 ± 4.01 )% when compared to the control ( 37.07 ± 3.19 )%. Similarly, the result of the blood haemoglobin showed a significant difference ( P < 0.05 ) between the test ( 10.00 ± 1.28 ) g/dL and the control group ( 11.71 ± 1.32 ) g/dL while granulocytes and platelets also showed significant decrease ( P < 0.05 ) with lymphocytes increasing significantly; the total white blood cell count (WBC) showed no significant difference; there was an increased level compared to the control. The study concluded that pregnancy in women has the tendency to alter haematological indices.