Hematological effects of prenatal iron supplementation on mothers and their infants.

ABSTRACT

Infants born to mothers who served an subjects of an iron supplementation study among pregnant women were followed-up for one year to assess the benefits derived by the infants from the iron treatment of the mothers. Hemoglobin and hematocrit levels at one to three months after birth were not statistically different between infants of iron-treated and untreated mothers. Infants aged six to twelve months who have not received any dietary iron supplement and were born from iron-treated mothers tended to have slightly higher hemoglobin levels than infants born to mothers not treated with iron during pregnancy but differences were not statistically significant. Mean hemoglobin levels for the infants aged six to twelve months who received daily iron supplement were significantly higher compared to hemoglobin levels of infants with either no iron or with intermittent iron supplement. Initial hemoglobin and hematocrit levels of pregnant mothers before supplementation and at one month postpartum, which were included in the report, showed higher gains in hemoglobin levels for the anemic mothers treated with iron compared to the gain found for the placebo group.