© 2007 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh

J HEALTH POPUL NUTR 2007 Mar;25(1):75-81 ISSN 1606-0997 $ 5.00+0.20

Nutritional Factors Associated with Anaemia in Pregnant Women in Northern Nigeria Dorothy J. VanderJagt1, Hugh S. Brock1, George S. Melah2, Aliyu U. El-Nafaty2, Michael J. Crossey3, and Robert H. Glew1 1Department

of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, USA, 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Federal Medical Centre, Gombe, Nigeria, and 3TriCor Reference Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to assess the relative contribution of iron, folate, and B12 deficiency to anaemia in pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. In total, 146 pregnant women, who attended two antenatal clinics in Gombe, Nigeria, were recruited into the study. The majority (54%) of the women were in the third trimester. Blood samples were obtained for determination of haematocrit and for measurement of serum iron, total iron-binding capacity, ferritin, folate, vitamin B12, and homocysteine. Malaria was present in 15 (9.4%) women. Based on a haemoglobin value of