Iron supplementation during pregnancy, anemia, and birth weight: a randomized controlled trial.

Study answer

What this study found

Daily iron supplementation did not significantly reduce anemia at 28 weeks, but it was associated with better birth outcomes. At 28 weeks, anemia was 19.8% with iron versus 26.7% with placebo, while birth weight was higher with iron (3277 ± 501 g vs 3072 ± 635 g) and low birth weight was lower (4% vs 16.7%). Preterm delivery with low birth weight was also lower (2.6% vs 10.4%), and the authors concluded that prophylactic prenatal iron deserves further study for improving birth weight and possibly reducing health care costs.

Study & population

Randomized controlled trial in low-income pregnant women enrolled in WIC in Cleveland, United States, before 20 weeks of gestation.

Intervention

Daily oral iron supplementation provided 30 mg Fe/day as ferrous sulfate from enrollment until 28 weeks of gestation, compared with placebo.

Key limitation

Outcome follow-up was incomplete for both iron status and birth outcomes, with analyses limited to smaller subsets of the randomized groups.

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Original abstract