Objective To review the evidence about universal iron supplementation in pregnancy to prevent maternal anemia.
Methods Bibliographic research of randomized and controlled clinical trials, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and clinical guidelines, published between August 2009 and August 2019, using the MeSH terms: iron; therapeutic use; pregnancy; anemia, prevention and control.
Results We included six clinical guidelines, three meta-analyses and one randomized controlled clinical trial.
Discussion Most articles point to the improvement of hematological parameters and reduction of maternal anemia risk, with supplementary iron. However, they do not correlate this improvement in pregnant women without previous anemia with the eventual improvement of clinical parameters.
Conclusion Universal iron supplementation in pregnancy is controversial, so we attribute a SORT C recommendation strength.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.