Abstract

Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world. Pregnant women are at especially high risk for iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia. A considerable proportion of pregnant women in both developing and industrialized countries become anemic during pregnancy. The prevalence of anemia in pregnant women has remained unacceptably high worldwide despite the fact that routine iron supplementation during pregnancy has been almost universally recommended to prevent maternal anemia, especially in developing countries over the past 30 years. The major problem with iron supplementation during pregnancy is compliance. Despite many studies, the relationship between maternal anemia and adverse pregnancy outcome is unclear. However, there is now sufficient evidence that iron supplements increase hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels during pregnancy and also improve the maternal iron status in the puerperium, even in women who enter pregnancy with adequate iron stores. Recent information also suggests an association between maternal iron status in pregnancy and the iron status of infants postpartum. The necessity of routine iron supplementation during pregnancy has been debated in industrialized countries and routine supplementation is not universally practiced in all these countries. In view of existing data, however, routine iron supplementation during pregnancy seems to be a safe strategy to prevent maternal anemia in developing countries, where traditional diets provide inadequate iron and where malaria and other infections causing increased losses are endemic.