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Abstract

Coagulation pattern in pregnancy is postulated to be impacted by gestational age and parity. The study sets out to assess the prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and platelets count (PLT) in pregnant women and investigate the impact of parity on these haemostatic parameters. A total of 150 participants were recruited into this study comprising of 75 pregnant with different parity and varying trimester and 75 non-pregnant women. 4.5ml of venous blood sample was collected into 1/10 volume of 3.8% sodium citrate anticoagulant bottle and 4ml of venous blood sample was collected into ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) anticoagulant bottle from each participant after obtaining written informed consent. Blood samples were spun and separated in the laboratory. PT, APTT and PLT were analyzed immediately using Quick’s test, Tilt-tube method, improved Neubauer hemocytometer method respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and taken to be significant at p<0.05. Prothrombin time in pregnant women (15.76 ± 2.91) was significantly prolonged compared with non-pregnant participants (13.03 ± 2.01) in this study (p<0.05). APTT on the other hand was lower among pregnant women (23.71 ± 5.23) than non-pregnant women (34.86 ± 2.86) p<0.05. There was no significant difference between the platelets count among the two groups. Higher parity showed significant association with prolonged PT and shortened APTT. Pregnancy exhibits modulatory effects on haemostatic parameters with noticeable impact on PT and APTT. Increased parity appears to be an independent factor to this effect.