Monitoring of the Nutritional Status of Pregnant Women in Uganda

Monitoring of the Nutritional Status of Pregnant Women in Uganda

In a recent publication Ugandan scientists describe a lack of information in the monitoring of the dietary status of pregnant women using the example of the Kaabong hospital (1). A sample of the documentation showed that of 235 women who entered the clinic in April 2015, only 10 % got determined the hemoglobin content in the blood and only 30 % got blood pressure values tested. Measurements of the Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC), a common measure for the rapid determination of acute malnutrition, if scales are missing, were not achieved at all (2). In acute malnutrition, there is a lack of both macro- and micro-nutrients. The condition of affected persons is often life-threatening. Through a quality management program it was possible to record the nutritional status of all pregnant women in the clinic within one year. 39 poorly nourished and 38 moderately deficient pregnant women could be treated directly through a nutrition program.

The picture shows the measurement of the middle arm circumference for the determination of acute malnutrition in children (3)

 

Read more:

(1) J Izudi et al. Quality Improvement Interventions for Nutritional Assessment among Pregnant Mothers in Northeastern Uganda. Biomed Res Int. 2017; 2017: 8036535. Published online 2017 May 30. Available via: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5468564/

(2) To the measuring points see  AM Tang et al. Determining a Global Mid-Upper Arm Circumference Cutoff to Assess Malnutrition in Pregnant Women. June 2016. Washington, DC: FHI 360/Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA). Available via : https://www.fantaproject.org/sites/default/files/resources/FANTA-MUAC-cutoffs-pregnant-women-June2016.pdf

(3) WHO Humanitarian Health Action, 5 places where WHO needs more emergencies funding to help people now, published online July 2017. Available via: http://www.who.int/hac/donorinfo/2017/five-places-need-more-funding/en/

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