Treating anemia during pregnancy could significantly lower the risk of congenital heart defects in newborns, according to a new study published on April 23 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Researchers found that women who were anemic early in pregnancy had a 47% higher risk of giving birth to a child with a heart defect compared to non-anemic mothers.
“We already know that congenital heart disease risk is influenced by various factors, but these results specifically highlight anemia and bring the findings from lab studies to clinical practice,” said senior researcher Duncan Sparrow, associate professor at the University of Oxford, in a news release. “Knowing that early maternal anemia is so damaging could be a gamechanger worldwide,” he added.
Study Details:
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Researchers analysed medical records of nearly 2,800 U.K. women who gave birth to children with heart defects and compared them to records from about 14,000 women whose children were born healthy.
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About 4.4% of mothers whose children had heart defects were anemic during pregnancy, compared with 2.8% of mothers of healthy children.
These findings are consistent with results from earlier studies in Israel, Canada, and Taiwan, which also linked maternal anemia to a higher risk of heart defects.
Main Causes and Recommendations:
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About two-thirds of anemia cases during pregnancy are caused by iron deficiency.
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“Since iron deficiency is a major cause of anemia, widespread iron supplementation — both during pre-conception and pregnancy — could help prevent many cases of congenital heart disease,” Sparrow suggested.
Researchers are now recommending clinical trials to test whether iron supplementation during pregnancy could effectively prevent both anemia and heart defects in newborns.