Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2021 Jul 29; 9(E):535-539. 535 Scientifc Foundation SPIROSKI, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2021 Jul 29; 9(E):535-539. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2021.6519 eISSN: 1857-9655 Category: E - Public Health Section: Public Health Education and Training Mother’s Perception of Anemia and Compliance of Iron Tablet Consumption during Pregnancy Martha Meti Kody 1 * , Melkisedek Landi 1 , Yosephina E. S. Gunawan 1 , Maria Christina Endang Sukartiningsih 1 , Norma Tiku Kambuno 2 1 Department of Nursing, Poltekkes Kemenkes Kupang, Kupang, Indonesia; 2 Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Poltekkes Kemenkes Kupang, Kupang, Indonesia Abstract BACKGROUND: Anemia cases are still the main problem found in pregnant women in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, especially East Sumba Regency. Anemia is very common in pregnant women and iron (Fe) defciency is the main cause. Indonesia has a policy to provide Fe supplements to pregnant women. Non-compliance of Fe tablets is one of the important challenge factors in fghting anemia. AIM: The research objective was to determine the relationship between perceptions and compliance of pregnant women on consuming Fe tablets. METHODS: This study involved 102 women, namely 34 pregnant women, 34 postpartum mothers, and 34 breastfeeding mothers. After obtaining approval from the research ethics commission, data were collected by personal interview. Data were analyzed using the Spearman correlation statistical test. RESULTS: A good perception of 77.5%, moderate 18.6%, and less, 5.9%. It was found that the compliance of taking Fe tablets was in the good category of 2.9%, sufcient 27.5%, and less 69.6%. The results of the Spearman correlation test show a correlation coefcient of 0.164 and a signifcant 0.100 which means that there is a weak correlation and there is no relationship between perception and compliance of taking Fe tablets. CONCLUSIONS: The perception of pregnant women about Fe is mostly good and the compliance of pregnant women’s in taking Fe tablets is mostly sufcient. There was no relationship between perception and compliance of taking Fe tablets in pregnant women. Edited by: Sasho Stoleski Citation: Kody MM, Landi M, Gunawan YES, Sukartiningsih MCE, Kambuno NT. Mother’s Perception of Anemia and Compliance of Iron Tablet Consumption during Pregnancy. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2021 Jul 29; 9(E):535-539. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2021.6519 Keywords: Perception; Compliance; Iron tablets; Pregnant women *Correspondence: Martha Mety Kody, Department of Nursing, Poltekkes Kemenkes Kupang, Kupang, Indonesia. E-mail: kodymartha@gmail.com Received: 24-May-2021 Revised: 08-Jun-2021 Accepted: 19-Jul-2021 Copyright: © 2021 Martha Meti Kody, Melkisedek Landi, Yosephina E. S. Gunawan, Maria Christina Endang Sukartiningsih. Endang, Norma Tiku Kambuno Funding: This study was supported by the Director of Poltekkes Kemenkes Kupang, through funding in 2019 Basic Health Research Fund Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist Open Access: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Introduction Anemia is a condition in which the oxygen- carrying capacity of red blood cells is insufcient to fll the body’s physiological needs [1]. This can lead to various health complications in every age group including pregnant women, where it can lead to dangerous maternal and fetal outcomes [2]. It is estimated that 20% of direct maternal deaths are attributable to anemia through its complications and it is the associated cause of up to 50% of maternal deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) defnes anemia as a blood hemoglobin which concentration is <11 gm/dl or a hematocrit <37% in pregnant women. The WHO estimates that 58% of women in developing countries sufer from anemia [3]. According to Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) 2018, the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women in Indonesia is 48.9%. The fgure shows an increase when compared to Riskesdas in 2013, namely 37.1%. knowing from the coverage of blood added tablets giving to pregnant women in 2018, as many as 38.1% of pregnant women who get iron (Fe) tablets of at least 90 items and 61.9% get Fe tablets <90 items [4]. The blood-added tablet distribution program is programmed for pregnant women and young women and the coverage of the number of TDD recipients is 18.92% and 61.88% in 2018, respectively [5]. Report from the Directorate General of Public Health in 2018, the number of pregnant women at risk of chronic energy defciency and underweight toddlers who receive additional food in East Nusa Tenggara 76.1% and 73%. East Sumba Regency has 22 health centers including Puskesmas Waingapu with the number of pregnant women in 2018 was 5,642 people and the number of recipients of Fe tablets was 4,185 people (74.2%). There were 48 cases of anemia in pregnant women at Puskesmas Waingapu in 2017 and decreased to 23 cases in 2018 [6]. Fe defciency is considered the most common cause of anemia globally, accounted for more than half of anemia cases in pregnancy [7]. Fe, an essential nutrient, is needed for the synthesis of hemoglobin, Fe needs increase during pregnancy and is often not obtained through regular diet. This can be exacerbated