Objective: To study the association between blood loss during delivery
and B-hemoglobin before and after delivery (3 days and 10 weeks, resp
ectively). Materials and Methods: Information on blood loss for 693 wo
men, 93.9% of all parturients during the study period, was extracted f
rom the original medical records. B-hemoglobin was analyzed at the ant
enatal maternal health care unit at the last visit before delivery, in
capillary samples taken on the ward on the 3rd day, or 10 weeks after
delivery. Associations were estimated with Pearson's parametric corre
lation coefficient. Results: Altogether, 31.3% of all parturients had
a higher B-hemoglobin value on the 3rd day after delivery than on the
last visit to the maternal health care unit before delivery; the mean
intrapartum blood loss was 375 ml (range 100-2,200 ml). The correlatio
n coefficient between B-hemoglobin on the 3rd day after delivery and b
lood loss was r = -0.53. When the last value recorded at the antenatal
maternal health care unit was included in the analysis, the correlati
on coefficient remained virtually unchanged (r = -0.52). Only 14 (bloo
d loss less than or equal to 600 ml), or 11% (blood loss > 600 ml) of
the variation in the B-hemoglobin was accounted for by the amount of b
lood loss. No significant correlation coefficient was evident for B-he
moglobin 10 weeks after delivery vis-g-vis blood loss, irrespective of
whether iron supplementation was administered (r = 0.01) or not (r =
0.17). Conclusion: The weak association between intrapartum blood loss
and B-hemoglobin suggests that the value of B-hemoglobin determined a
fter delivery may be less indicative than previously thought. This con
clusion is strengthened by the fact that only a minor part (less than
or equal to 14%) of the variation in B-hemoglobin on the 3rd day after
delivery is explained by the amount of blood lost.