Maternal and neonatal iron status in Ivory Coast

Despite the high prevalence of neonatal anemia in Cote d'Ivoire, complete blood counts and iron studies have not been adequately explored. The authors studied complete blood counts (from peripheral blood mononuclear cells), hemoglobin electrophoresis results, and serum iron, ferritin and transferrin levels in 40 newborns and their mothers. The neonatal results (mean +/- SD) were: hemoglobin: 14.96 +/- 2.24 g/dl; serum iron: 16.88 +/- 7.29 micromol/l; total iron-binding capacity (TIBC): 39.88 +/- 14.85 micromol/l; transferrin: 2 +/- 0.65 g/l; ferritin: 116.20 +/- 105.25 microg/l; and hemoglobin electrophoresis: 22.5% of infants showed some hemoglobinopathy (FAC, FAS, FSA(2)). Maternal serum iron levels were positively correlated with the newborns' TIBC (r = 0.362, p<0.05), maternal ferritin with neonatal transferrin (r = 0.374, p<0.05), maternal transferrin coefficient of saturation (CS) with neonatal TIBC (r = 0.554, p<0.01). These results suggest a high prevalence of iron deficiency in mothers and a consequent potential risk of iron deficiency in their newborns in the absence of iron supplementation.