Maternal anemia and risk of adverse birth and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Anemia is a leading cause of maternal deaths and adverse pregnancy outcomes in developing countries. Objectives We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled prevalence of anemia, the association between maternal anemia and pregnancy outcomes, and the population-attributable fraction (PAF) of these outcomes that are due to anemia in low- and middle-income countries. Design PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the British Nursing Index were searched from inception to May 2015 to identify cohort studies of the association between maternal anemia and pregnancy outcomes. The anemic group was defined as having hemoglobin concentrations Results Of 8182 articles reviewed, 29 studies were included in the systematic review, and 26 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, 42.7% (95% CI:…