Approximately four of five healthy pregnant women in Ireland were iron deficient during their third trimester despite none of the women presenting as anemic during the first trimester, according to a large longitudinal analysis.
International guidelines vary regarding how to screen, prevent and treat iron deficiency during pregnancy and a lack of consensus regarding biomarkers and thresholds to define iron deficiency can complicate interpreting findings across studies, according to Elaine K. McCarthy, PhD, lecturer in nutrition at University College Cork, Ireland, and colleagues. Iron