Effect of iron deficiency and anemia on pregnancy & bull; hello healthy

Iron deficiency can lead to conditions ranging from anemia due to iron deficiency, to anemia due to iron deficiency. In iron deficiency conditions, the amount of stored iron (as measured by the serum ferritin concentration) decreases but the amount of draining iron and functional iron may not be affected. People with iron deficiency do not have sufficient iron stores to use if the body needs additional iron.

In the condition of erythropoiesis due to iron deficiency, the iron stored is depleted and the iron that flows (measured by transferrin saturation) is reduced; the amount of iron absorbed is not sufficient to make up for the amount of iron lost or to provide the amount of iron needed for body growth and function. In this stage, iron deficiency limits the production of red blood cells and leads to an increase in the concentration of erythrocyte protoporphyrin.

In conditions of anemia due to iron deficiency, which is the most severe condition of iron deficiency, there is a deficiency of iron reserves, channeled iron and functional iron, thereby reducing Hb and low serum ferritin, low flow iron concentrations and increasing concentrations. protoporphyrin erythrocytes.

Negative effects on the mother during pregnancy

Reproductive-related death

Pregnant women who have anemia are at risk of death during the prenatal period. Nearly 500,000 maternal deaths due to childbirth or early post-partum occur each year, most of them in developing countries. Anemia is the main or only cause in 20-40% of these deaths. In many areas, anemia is a factor in nearly all maternal deaths and poses a 5-fold increase in the overall risk of maternal death related to pregnancy and childbirth. The risk of death increases dramatically in severe anemia.

These cases of maternal mortality, most of which are related to pregnancy and childbirth, contrast with those in the industrialized world where maternal mortality is almost 100 times less and severe anemia is extremely rare. It is important to recognize that severe anemia is associated with socioeconomic conditions and minimal health conditions in certain countries and regions of the developing world. Along with malaria infection, other infections, and some nutritional deficiencies, including folate and vitamin A, are endemic to this population. Iron deficiency contributes significantly to most cases of anemia during pregnancy.

The risk of complications during birth, including fetal death, is higher among a poor population who also exhibits slow body development. General malnutrition and particularly iron and folate deficiencies during childhood and adolescence impair physical growth. Both iron and folic acid supplements can produce better growth in pregnant children and teenage girls.

Performance during pregnancy and childbirth

Pregnant women who experience anemia due to iron deficiency have a shorter gestation period than those who are not anemic, or even pregnant women who experience anemia but not because of iron deficiency. A prospective study shows that all anemic pregnant women have a higher risk of preterm labor in relation to non-anemic women.

Iron deficiency anemia group had twice the risk than those with anemia in general. These results were obtained after controlling for maternal age, parity, ethnicity, prenatal or pre-natal weight, bleeding, gestational age from baseline blood conditions, number of cigarettes smoked per day, and pre-pregnancy body mass index. Inadequate gestational weight (for a certain gestational age) is a significantly higher risk for all cases of anemia, particularly among those who are deficient in iron. Inadequate body weight has also been linked to preterm labor.

In some populations in the tropics, folate supplementation has also resulted in increased hematologic status, increased birth weight, and reduced incidence of preterm birth.

These results confirm and clarify other retrospective studies or provide indirect evidence that better nutrition, including a lower prevalence of anemia, is associated with better birth weight and lower rates of preterm birth, and that anemia is associated with an increased risk of birth. premature. The more severe the anemia, the greater the risk of low birth weight.

Childbirth is demanding endurance and physical effort and women who are physically fit (nearly impossible in the face of severe anemia) are in better shape and have fewer complications during delivery when compared to women who are less fit. In severe anemia, heart failure during delivery is the leading cause of death.

Lactation performance

There is no evidence that mothers who are deficient in iron or anemic are less competent than other normal mothers in the breastfeeding process, and the composition of milk, both from a macro- and micro-nutritional perspective, has basically not changed.

However, even under the best of circumstances, iron in breast milk has been shown to be insufficient to maintain adequate iron nutrition in infants over 4 to 6 months of age.

Immune immune status

Two studies in India have shown that anemia and severe iron deficiency in pregnant women lead to impaired cell-mediated immunity that is reversible with iron treatment. An important control variable that was lacking in this study was nutritional documentation of folate.

Negative effect on babies

Health and development

Two large industrial studies involving more than 100,000 pregnancies clearly show that unfavorable pregnancy outcomes are common among women who have anemia. Both studies found that there was a higher rate of fetal death and abnormalities, preterm delivery, and low birth weight in mothers with anemia. This risk is clear, even among mothers who have anemia only in the first half of pregnancy. There is a significant correlation between the severity of anemia, preterm birth, and low birth weight which is very clear.

The causality of anemia in these adverse pregnancy outcomes has been further established by studies showing positive results in birth weight and perinatal mortality with successful treatment of anemia with iron and folic acid.

In terms of infant health and development, children with low birth weight suffer especially in developing countries where the risk of malnutrition, infection and death is increasing. An additional risk for babies may come from the fact that iron deficiency and anemia in children, as well as in adults, result in changes in brain function that can result in disruption of mother-child interactions and disruption in school later. There is evidence that babies who are anemic due to iron deficiency can produce long-lasting disabilities in mental development and performance that interfere with children's learning abilities