Hematological Profile of Normal Pregnant Women

Abstract

With the advent of many interventions to improve maternal and child health, pregnant women have become the focus of many health programs. However, few data exist regarding this important population. Although pregnancyinduced changes occur in hematological values, very few laboratories provide specific reference ranges for pregnant women. Most laboratory information systems report reference values based on samples obtained from non–pregnant women which may not be useful for clinical decisions during pregnancy. Thus, there is an increased risk of overlooking important physiologic alterations resulting from pathological conditions and of misinterpreting normal changes as pathological events. It is therefore important to understand pregnancy-induced hematological changes for correct clinical evaluation of pregnant women. In this review, we discuss complete blood count and the associated pregnancy-induced hematological changes. We also highlight the dynamic changes of these parameters per trimester and show how they differ between populations.