Bibliographic information

GuidelineConsolidated guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage
Year of Publication2025
Issuing InstitutionWorld Health Organization

Recommendation

New

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.

Context specific recommendation

Only in specific contexts

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