Iron status of babies born to iron-deficient anaemic mothers in an Iranian hospital.

We investigated the relation between maternal anaemia and neonatal iron status in 97 mothers and their babies. Haemoglobin (Hb), serum iron, total iron binding capacity and serum ferritin were determined. Mothers were divided into 3 groups: iron-deficient anaemic (22.7%), non-anaemic iron-deficient (27.8%) and non-anaemic non-iron-deficient (49.5%). There was no significant difference in the mean ages of the 3 groups but there were significant differences in relation to parity, Hb and serum ferritin levels. There was no significant difference in the mean value of serum iron or total iron binding capacity among the neonates of the 3 groups. Babies of iron-deficient anaemic mothers had significantly lower levels of serum ferritin (115.3 ng/mL) than nonanaemic, non-iron-deficient mothers (204.8 ng/mL) but not compared with the non-anaemic iron-deficient group. Maternal iron deficiency may affect iron status in their babies and predispose them to iron deficiency.