LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Effects of Iron and Vitamin A Levels on Pregnant Women and Birth Outcomes: Complex Relationships Untangled Using a Birth Cohort Study in Uganda

Photo from wikipedia

Women and infants are among the most vulnerable groups for micronutrient deficiencies. Pregnancy micronutrient status can affect birth outcomes and subsequent infants’ growth. We determined the relationship between maternal iron… Click to show full abstract

Women and infants are among the most vulnerable groups for micronutrient deficiencies. Pregnancy micronutrient status can affect birth outcomes and subsequent infants’ growth. We determined the relationship between maternal iron and vitamin A status at delivery using several biomarkers (ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor [sTFR], body iron stores [BIS], hemoglobin and retinol binding protein [RBP]) and birth outcomes (body weight, Z-scores, head circumference, small-for-gestational-age and preterm birth) in rural Uganda. We investigated women who had serum results at the point of delivery and paired them to their infants at birth (n = 1244). We employed multivariable linear and logistic regression, adjusting for clustering at the subcounty level to determine the relationship between maternal micronutrients and birth outcomes. After adjusting for relevant factors, we found that maternal iron status (ferritin and BIS) and anemia (hemoglobin) were not significantly associated with the assessed birth outcomes. However, there was a significant association between serum sTFR and preterm births (AOR: 0.67; 95% CI 0.48–0.94). For Vitamin A, we observed a significant positive association between RBP and length-for-age (LAZ) at birth (β = 0.12, p < 0.030). These findings indicate that the relationship between maternal iron status and birth outcomes needs to be further investigated, because depending on the biomarker used the associations were either in favor of an adverse birth outcome or not significant. Additionally, they confirm that higher maternal RBP levels could be beneficial for birth outcomes. Clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04233944.

Keywords: iron vitamin; birth; birth outcomes; status

Journal Title: Maternal and Child Health Journal
Year Published: 2022

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.