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The Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency in Pregnancy

From the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of California, San Francisco, California

Abstract

Iron saturation of serum transferrin (Fe/ TIBC) has been found useful in assessing the iron status of women in the nonpregnant slate. Sixty-two pregnant anemic patients with various Fe/TIBC ratios were studied with respect to their response to iron therapy. Patients with Fe/TIBC below 20% responded to iron with a significant mean increase in hemoglobin and a restitution of the mean Fe/TIBC to above 20%, while patients with Fe/TIBC above 20% showed no mean increment in their hemoglobin after comparable treatment. In patients with Fe/TIBC below 20%, the TIBC showed a variable but predictable response to successful therapy dependent on pretreatment values in that posttreatment values tended toward 400 µg/100 ml. The Findings support the concept that the Fe/TIBC ratio is as useful a test for evaluating iron deficiency in the pregnant as in the nonpregnant state.