Pregnancy and homozygous beta thalassaemia major

Nine pregnant women with homozygous beta-thalassaemia major followed a strict transfusion regimen to maintain their haemoglobin level > 10 g/dl. One pregnancy was terminated because of concern about desferrioxamine teratogenicity and another ended in miscarriage at 11 weeks. All other women were delivered by elective caesarean section between 37 and 38 weeks. There were no obstetric complications or perinatal deaths.