Iron Stores in Low-Income Pregnant Mexican Women at Term

Abstract

Background Iron stores can be depleted during pregnancy. Serum ferritin is the most useful non-invasive test to assess iron stores in women of reproductive age. Iron status of pregnant Mexican women at term from a low-income group was investigated through serum ferritin determinations. Methods Hemoglobin and serum ferritin were measured in 201 low-income urban women with at-term pregnancy receiving attention at a public university hospital. Hemoglobin cut-off value was 110.0 g/L. Depending on their serum ferritin concentration, women were divided into three groups: group I, iron deficiency, serum ferritin <12 μg/L; group II, borderline iron stores, serum ferritin ≥12 μg/L and <30 μg/L, and group III, normal iron stores, serum ferritin ≥30 μg/L. Results Mean SF value in the entire group was 7.0 ± 6.4 μg/L, with a mean Hb of 110.1 ± 15.8 g/L. One hundred seventy-two women (85.6%) had empty iron stores. Ninety-two women (46%) in the entire group had iron deficiency anemia, as did 79 (46%) of the 172 iron-deficient women. During their pregnancy, 165 women (82%) did not ingest any supplemental iron and 131 (65%) did not receive any prenatal care. Conclusions We documented a high prevalence of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia, together with practically no prenatal care utilization and no supplemental iron ingestion in this low-income group. A serum ferritin concentration ≥12 μg/L was always accompanied by a normal hemoglobin concentration. These data suggest that prenatal care and iron supplementation may be considered as major determinants of maternal iron stores to prevent iron deficiency anemia.