Anaemia in pregnancy linked to 47 per cent higher risk of heart condition in child at birth

BEING anaemic during pregnancy could be linked to a 47 per cent higher chance of the child having a heart condition at birth, according to a study conducted on women in the UK.

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Anaemia, or iron deficiency, has been studied to be common among people with congenital heart disease - in which one has heart defects at birth affecting the organ's function.

"We already know that the risk of congenital heart disease can be raised by a variety of factors, but these results develop our understanding of anaemia. Knowing that early maternal anaemia is so damaging could be a game changer worldwide,” corresponding author Duncan B. Sparrow, from the University of Oxford, UK, said.

In this study, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the researchers analysed health records of women who became pregnant between January 1998 and October 2020.