Iron Deficiency Anemia in Pregnancy-Recent Updates in Management Based On Evidence

Anaemia is a global health problem and a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. IDA during pregnancy has the risk of low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, maternal and perinatal mortality, and poor Apgar score. The clinical symptoms of Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in pregnancy are non-specific and are not reliable for diagnosis. Diagnosis is based on laboratory assessment of red cell indices and measurement of iron stores. All pregnant women should be given appropriate dietary advice to correct iron deficiency. When a woman become iron-deficient in pregnancy diet alone is not adequate to correct deficiency and an oral supplementation should strongly be considered. Ferrous iron salts are the current preparation of choice for oral iron supplementation. WHO recommended prophylactic iron supplementation of all pregnant women with 60 mg iron and 400 ?g folic acid daily, till term in pregnancy and continuation of similar dose during lactation for 3 months in countries where prevalence is more than forty percent. Parenteral iron should be considered from the second trimester onwards for women with confirmed IDA who are intolerant of, or do not to respond to, oral iron.