Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy

Anemia is a common problem in obstetrics and perinatal care. Any hemoglobin (Hb) below 10.5 g/dl can be regarded as true anemia regardless of gestational age. Main cause of anemia in obstetrics is iron deficiency, which has a worldwide prevalence between estimated 20 and 80% of especially female population. Stages of iron deficiency are depletion of iron stores, iron-deficient erythropoiesis without anemia and iron-deficiency anemia, the most pronounced form of iron deficiency. Pregnancy anemia can be aggravated by various conditions such as uterine or placental bleedings, gastrointestinal bleedings and peripartum blood loss. Beside the general consequences of anemia, there are specific risks during pregnancy for the mother and the fetus such as intrauterine growth retardation, prematurity, feto-placental miss-ratio and higher risk for peripartum blood transfusion. Beside the importance of prophylaxis of iron deficiency, main therapy options for the treatment of pregnancy anemia are oral iron and intravenous iron preparations.