Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Winter;4(1):569-73.

Efficacy of daily versus intermittent administration of iron supplementation in anemia or blood indices during pregnancy

Farahnaz Sadighian  1 , Haydeh Haydeh Samiei, Haydeh Alaoddolehei, Narges Kalantari
Affiliations

Efficacy of daily versus intermittent administration of iron supplementation in anemia or blood indices during pregnancy

Farahnaz Sadighian et al. Caspian J Intern Med. 2013 Winter.

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women take iron supplements in order to prevent iron deficiency anemia which may have undesirable effects for both the mother and fetus. This study aimed to compare the daily and intermittent dose of iron supplementation in blood and iron indices in healthy pregnant women.

Methods: In this clinical trial study, 145 healthy pregnant women were selected with Hb≥11g%. The participants were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 received daily iron supplement at 50 mg/day and group 2 received an intermittent dose of 3 times per week. Blood samples were assessed for complete blood count (Hb, Hct, RBC), iron, ferritin and zinc at baseline in the first trimester in all participants and the two groups were compared in regard to mean changes from baseline to the end of the study period in the third trimester. This clinical trial was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (www.irct.ir) with registration number ID: 2012082810682N1.

Results: The incidence of iron deficiency anemia was 2.7% in both groups. The mean levels of Hb, Hct and RBC in the first trimester were 13.3 g/dl, 39.4% and 4.5 mil/ml(3), respectively. At the end of the study, Hb, Hct, and RBC reduced significantly in both groups compared with baseline values (p<0.05). The difference from baseline in Hb and other blood indices did not differ significantly across the two groups.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that daily or intermittent administration of iron supplement to pregnant women has the same outcome. Regarding the side effects of iron in pregnancy, intermittent method seems preferable to daily intake.

Keywords: Ferritin; Iron deficiency; Iron supplement; Pregnancy; Zinc.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure1
Figure1
Comparison of daily (1) and intermittent (2) dose of iron supplementation on mean of RBC, MCV, MCH, HCT and Hb in healthy pregnantwomen.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McLean E, Cogswell M, Egli I, Wojdyla D, de Benoist B. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia, WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1993-2005. Public Health Nutr. 2009;12:444–54. - PubMed
    1. Murphy JF, O'Riordan J, Newcombe RG, Coles EC, Pearson JF. Relation of hemoglobin levels in first and second trimesters to outcome of pregnancy. Lancet. 1986;3:992–5. - PubMed
    1. Lu ZM, Goldenberg RL, Cliver SP, Cutter G, Blankson M. The relationship between maternal hematocrit and pregnancy outcome. Obstet Gynecol. 1991;77:190–4. - PubMed
    1. Allen LH. Anemia and iron deficiency: effects on pregnancy outcome. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;71:1280S–4S. - PubMed
    1. Aranda N, Ribot B, Garcia E, Viteri FE, Arija V. Pre-pregnancy iron reserves, iron supplementation during pregnancy,and birth weight. Early Hum Dev. 2011;87:791–7. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources