A prospective, sequential and longitudinal study of haematological profile during normal pregnancy in Chinese women

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating the haematological profile during pregnancy in Chinese women and comparing these to the established values for white and black women. White blood cell (WBC) count, red blood cell (RBC) count, haemoglobin (Hb) concentration, haematocrit (Hct), mean cell volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and platelet (PLT) count were measured on samples of blood obtained during each pregnant trimester and the 12th and 16th week postpartum. During pregnancy, Hb concentration, RBC count, Hct and PLT count were lower. The lower reference values for Hb and PLT count during pregnancy were 95 g/l and 61 x 10(9)/l, which were different from those of white and black women. These new reference values would be helpful in assessing the health status of pregnant women with a socioeconomic and racial background similar to those of our study participants.