Abstract
Objective: To investigate during pregnancy maternal tea consumption and risk of developing iron deficiency anemia.
Methodology: This comparative cross sectional study was carried out at Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Liaqat University of Medical and Health Sciences from Jamshoro/Hyderabad from September 2018 to February 2019 and included 400 pregnant females. After a through general physical examination, blood was drawn and questionnaires were filled. Information on types of tea (black, with milk) and amount of tea consumed in relation to number of cups/day were noted.
Results: Out of 400 females, 200 drank tea and 200 did not. We found that 206(51.5%) women were anemic. Out of these, 47(11.75%) are mildly anemic, 103(25.75%) moderately and 56 (14%) were severely anemic. Serum iron and ferritin were significantly high in non tea drinkers, whereas total iron binding capacity was significantly increased in tea drinkers. Those having less than 4.2 million/mm3 Red cell count were 162(40.5%) whereas normal RBC count was observed in 238(59.5%) women. Out of 400 women, 244(61%) had microcytosis while 156(39%) had normocytes. Hematocrit value less than 33% were observed in 197(49.25%) women.
Conclusion: In this study, anemia was found in tea drinking pregnant women.

Key words: Tea, pregnancy,heamatology,iron deficiency anemia.