Counseling intervention on iron-folic acid adherence and clinical outcomes among pregnant women and women planning to be pregnant: a scoping review

Anemia during pregnancy is a major health problem that affects 25-50% of the world's population and around 50% of pregnant women. One of the causes of stunting is Low Birth Weight, which most often occurs in mothers who suffer from anemia. Making sure pregnant women have access to iron-folic acid supplement programs is challenging. People's inability to comply often occurred as the result of a lack of understanding of the benefits or harms of the supplement. Providing counseling to pregnant women to improve adherence to taking blood-added supplements has resulted in significant benefits and impacts on changes discussed in several studies that have been conducted in several countries. Through a review of the literature, this study seeks to ascertain the contribution that counseling interventions have to improving iron-folic acid prescription adherence. This study used a literature study research method by examining 8 journals published on the SCOPUS, PubMed, and Garuda Websites. After that, descriptive analysis was used to examine the data from the selected journals. The 8 journals supported the idea that counseling can improve adherence to iron and folic-acid supplementation. There are numerous ways to provide counseling, including the traditional face-to-face approach, the 5A brief approach, leaflet/brochure-based approaches, and counseling through illustrated books. This study concludes that counseling interventions are more effective due to the careful planning of tailored interventions with more regular follow-ups, various forms of interactive educational media, patient characteristics, and direct health professional intervention related to counseling.