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Impact of Postpartum Hemoglobin Levels on QoL
Ann Hematol; ePub 2016 Sep 13; Miller, et al
Postpartum hemoglobin levels did not seem to influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL) or fatigue in a prospective study involving 60 women.
Participants were intending to deliver vaginally. Investigators looked at HRQoL (using SF-36) and maternal fatigue (using MFI) on admission and 1 day after delivery. They also evaluated maternal hemoglobin during the same time, as well as postpartum depression. Among the results:
• Average predelivery hemoglobin level was 12.3 (1.2) g/dl; it was 10.8 (1.4) g/dl postpartum.
• There were no statistically significant links between postpartum hemoglobin levels with any SF-36 or MFI subscale.
• 1 patient was depressed; her postpartum hemoglobin level was 11.2 g/dl.
The authors stressed that their findings may only apply to women without predelivery anemia, severe blood loss or moderate-to-severe anemia after delivery.
Miller C, Ramachandran B, Akbar K, Carvalho B, Butwick A. The impact of postpartum hemoglobin levels on maternal quality of life after delivery: a prospective exploratory study. [Published online ahead of print September 13, 2016]. Ann Hematol. doi:10.1007/s00277-016-2817-5.