Bibliographic Info
GuidelineWHO recommendations on maternal health: guidelines approved by the WHO Guidelines Review Committee, second edition. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025
Year of Publication2023
Issuing InstitutionWorld Health Organization
Recommendation
Status
Maintained
Context specific recommendation
Only in specific contexts
Certainty of evidence
Moderate
Full blood count testing is the recommended method for diagnosing anaemia during pregnancy. Where fully blood count testing is not available, onsite haemoglobin testing with a hamoglobinometer is recommended over the haemoglobin colour scale method as the method for detecting anaemia.
Notes and Remarks
- 1.The GDG agreed that the high recurrent costs of Hb testing with haemoglobinometers might reduce the feasibility of this method in some low-resource settings, in which case the WHO haemoglobin colour scale method may be used.
- 2.Other low-technology on-site methods for detecting anaemia need development and/or investigation
Also Featured In
This recommendation also appears in the following guidelines:
Originally Developed
Guideline
WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience
Year2016
InstitutionWHO