Anaemia, prenatal iron use, and risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis

To summarise evidence on the associations of maternal anaemia and prenatal iron use with maternal haematological and adverse pregnancy outcomes; and to evaluate potential exposure-response relations of dose of iron, duration of use, and haemoglobin concentration in prenatal period with pregnancy outcomes.

Systematic review and meta-analysis DATA SOURCES: Searches of PubMed and Embase for studies published up to May 2012 and references of review articles. STUDY SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials of prenatal iron use and prospective cohort studies of prenatal anaemia; cross sectional and case-control studies were excluded.