Iron supplementation in pregnancy - evidence and controversies

Approximately 20% of women in industrialized countries have iron deficiency in pregnancy. This article focuses on the diagnostic problem of anemia and iron deficiency and discusses different strategies for iron supplementatio n in pregnancy. S-ferritin is commonly used to diagnose empty iron stores a nd is considered useful early in pregnancy as a diagnostic tool. Mean cellu lar volume (MCV), s-Fe and erythrocyte distribution width is too unspecific . Serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) is a relatively novel promising indicat or of iron deficiency. Iron demands of the pregnant women are discussed as well as the dietary content of iron. Both beneficial and adverse effects of iron supplementation are outlined. It is not documented that supplementati on has any substantial effect on birth weight or various complications in p regnancy. However, supplementation corrects the iron store and biochemical parameters of iron deficiency including hemoglobin concentration (fib) and maintains the maternal iron stores in the puerperium. Recent literature als o suggests that iron supply to the pregnant women may have beneficial effec ts on the iron content of neonates the first year of life.