Family Physician, 1995;7:11-15.

Abstract

Anaemia still constitutes a public health problem in the world, especially in the developing countries (1). Nutritional deficiency remains a major causative factor (2). During pregnancy, growth of the foetus, placenta and the larger amount of circulating blood in the expectant mother will lead to an increase in the demand for nutrients, especially iron and folic acid. Many women start their lives with insufficient iron stores, but also, because of inadequate child spacing, they have little time to build up their iron levels between pregnancies. In pregnancy, anaemia has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality (3,4,5). Iron and folic acid supplementation is routinely given to pregnant mothers in Malaysia. It is anticipated that pregnant mothers who comply strictly with the prescribed iron supplement will maintain adequate iron stores at parturition. However, the compliance rate among rural mothers in Kelantan is often poor (6). Kelantan is also one of the most socio-economically underdeveloped