Iron status of North American pregnant women: an update on longitudinal data and gaps in knowledge from the United States and Canada

Abstract

Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to iron deficiency due to the high iron demands of pregnancy. To avoid the adverse birth outcomes that are associated with maternal iron deficiency anemia, both Canada and the United States recommend universal iron supplementation for pregnant women. Although the benefits of iron supplementation in anemic women are well recognized, insufficient data are currently available on the maternal and neonatal benefits and harms of universal iron supplementation in developed countries as evidenced by the recent conclusions of the US Preventive Services Task Force on the need for further data that address existing gaps. As part of an effort to evaluate the impact of the current North American prenatal iron supplementation policy, this review highlights the lack of national data on longitudinal changes in iron status in pregnant North American women, emphasizes possible limitations with the original longitudinal hemoglobin data used to inform the current CDC reference hemoglobin values, and presents additional normative data from recent longitudinal research studies of iron status in North American pregnant women. Further longitudinal data in North American pregnant women are needed to help identify those who may benefit most from supplementation as well as to help determine whether there are adverse effects of iron supplementation in iron-replete women.

Keywords: anemia; erythropoietin; ferritin; hemoglobin; hepcidin; inflammation; pregnancy; serum transferrin receptor.

FIGURE 1

Longitudinal changes in hemoglobin concentrations across pregnancy are presented by using the CDC reference mean values (solid black line). The dotted line represents the fifth percentile of the CDC reference data. The WHO definition of anemia is 110 g/L across pregnancy (shown by the horizontal dashed line). Reproduced from reference with permission.