Iron deficiency in women during pregnancy

Introduction. In the context of iron deficiency states in women of reproductive age and, as a result during pregnancy, leads to the formation of the gestational complications and negatively perinatal outcomes. The routine screening for the detection of iron deficiency by determining the level of ferritin allows you to formed risk groups in order to carry out timely correction. Aim. To estimate the level and rate of an iron deficiency state in pregnant women in the first trimester. Materials and methods. The study included 401 pregnant women under surveillance in the period from January to June 2023. The main group was 134 patients with a diagnosis of iron deficiency – 33.4% of the total number of examined. The comparison group is represented by 36 pregnant women with the level of serum ferritin 41 – 60 ug/l. Results. The mean age and gestation of patients in the main and control groups were 27.9 (6.1) and 28.7 (6.8) years and 10.7 (1.9) and 10.6 (1.8) weeks, respectively. The serum ferritin level was 20.57 ± 8.83 ug/l in the patients of the main group and was significantly lower compared to the control group 49.74 ± 6.96 ug/l (p = 0.01). Among the patients in the main group, more than 80% had severe absolute iron deficiency (SF concentration < 15 ug/l), detected in 29.1% of women (39/134) and absolute iron deficiency (SF concentration ≥ 15 – < 30 ug/l) – 52.9% of cases (71/134). Features of the observation showed that in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy in patients with iron deficiency, the diagnosis of anemia was detected 2.6 times more often – 31.3% (42/134) compared to the control group. Conclusions. Determination of serum ferritin allows to identify patients with iron deficiency and timely prescribe iron preparations in preventive/therapeutic doses to reduce the frequency of perinatal and maternal complications.