RESUMO
Current WHO strategies of daily iron supplementation in the second half of gestational period have not reduced the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women during the last decade, and the reasons could be conceived as women's rejection of iron supplementation due to its side effects. Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare daily and twice-weekly iron supplementation regimen and their effects on the pregnancy outcome and maternal hematologic changes. The present study is a randomized clinical trial and the study population was the pregnant women admitted to four health centers in Sabzevar, Iran. The sample was 88 pregnant women randomly assigned into two groups [43 daily and 45 twice-weekly]. A demographical questionnaire and a study checklist were used for data collection and the obtained data were analyzed using independent t-test, paired t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and chi-square. The findings revealed that hemoglobin and ferritine changes were similar across the groups. Also, birth weight and gestational age were similar across the two groups and indicated no significant difference. Based on the study findings, the twice-weekly regimen is recommended for iron supplementation because of similar effects, less side effects and its cost-effectiveness in comparison with the daily regimen