Supplemental Iron A must during pregnancy :: Children and Parenting

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Supplemental Iron
by author Cathy Carlson-Rink, ND

Iron deficiency is the number one deficiency found during pregnancy. Research shows only one in five fertile women starts her pregnancy with adequate iron levels. A woman’s iron requirement doubles during pregnancy. Without proper diet and effective supplementation, iron stores can drop and continue to decline with each subsequent pregnancy.

Adequate iron is needed for optimum fertility, proper placental development, efficient oxygen delivery to the baby, brain development in the baby, and formation of iron stores for the baby’s first six months of life.

Adequate iron stores

Iron deficiency in pregnancy is linked with miscarriage, low birth weight, preterm labour, postpartum depression, and iron deficiency in infants. Planning a pregnancy should include ensuring you have adequate iron stores. Research shows 20 mg per day of iron helps prevent iron deficiency in four out of five women.

Safe iron supplementation

Most pregnant women who take in 15 mg of iron in their diets and 30 mg in a supplement are able to meet their requirement for iron.

A 2003 study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that using a daily low-dose iron supplement from the 20th week of pregnancy through to delivery reduced anemia and iron deficiency at birth and postpartum.

This low-dose supplementation did not cause side effects such as constipation usually found with high-dose iron supplements.

Another study in the same journal that year found that taking 30 mg of iron in the first trimester was 76 percent effective in reducing low birth weight babies even with women who already had adequate iron levels.

A third study compared taking a 30 mg iron supplement versus placebo during the second half of pregnancy and found that those who supplemented with iron did not develop anemia, compared to 14 percent who did in the placebo group. Pregnant mothers who took iron supplements returned to normal iron levels six months after their child’s birth, whereas this took two years for those women who did not.

How iron is delivered in a supplement is important. In a 2002 study, liquid iron was effective at raising serum iron stores. Ninety percent of the participants were able to take the liquid iron without side effects. In another study involving pregnant women, liquid ferrous gluconate (a form of iron) was compared to other liquid and solid iron supplements. The liquid ferrous gluconate was effective at lower dosages than the other iron supplements in treating iron deficiency and anemia.

Cathy Carlson-Rink, ND, is a mother of two and a licensed naturopathic physician and registered midwife practising in Langley, BC, with a focus on pregnancy, women’s and children’s health.

Source: alive #324, October 2009

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