Maternal and foetal iron and folate activities at parturition - abstract

ABSTRACT

This study was undertaken to determine the extent to which anaemia in the mother is reflected in the neonate and to what extent iron and folate deficiency might contribute to maternal anaemia. Haemoglobin (Hb), serum iron, transferrin saturation, serum folate and red cell (RBC) folate were measured in blood samples taken from 85 mothers and from the umbilical cords at delivery. Forty-two per cent of the mothers were anaemic by WHO standards (Hb <110 g/l) and 27 per cent were anaemic using a cut-off point of 106 g/l. Twenty-eight per cent of the neonates were considered anaemic (cord Hb <136 g/l). Serum iron and folate and RBC folate were significantly higher (p<0.01) in cord than maternal blood. Only 3.5 per cent of the mothers had serum iron defiency(<8.1 æmol/l) while 35 per cent had serum folate deficiency (<6.8 æmol/l). At low (<106 g/l) compared to adequate (>110 g/l) maternal Hb, maternal mean serum iron and folate and RBC folate were all significantly lower (p<0.05). No significant differences were found in cord mean serum iron and folate and mean RBC folate between cord bloods with low Hb compared to those with adequate Hb. At deficient (<6.8 æmol/l) compared to adequate (>13.6 æmol/l) maternal serum folate, maternal mean Hb and mean RBC folate were significantly lower (p<0.001) and p<0.0001, respectively); similarly, both cord mean serum folate and mean RBC folate were significantly lower (p<0.0001 and p <0.001, respectively). These results suggest that mothers who are anaemic at parturition do not necessarily have anaemic babies except when the maternal anaemia is extremely severe. Folate deficiency appears to be a bigger contributor than iron deficiency to anaemia in pregnancy (AU)