Is routine hemoglobin and hematocrit testing on admission to labor and delivery needed?

Abstract

The frequency of anemia fell from 20% at 26-28 weeks to 11% at term. The mild anemia at term did not change local management in any patient. Thus, if the value obtained at 26-28 weeks is acceptable (non-anemic by WHO criteria), the routine testing of these values at term can be avoided, resulting in significant cost savings.

Iron deficiency anemia at admission for labor and delivery is associated with an increased risk for Cesarean section and adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes

“…However, during pregnancy, serum ferritin levels as well as levels of marrow iron decrease even in women who ingest daily supplements with high amounts of iron, which casts doubts about their true significance in pregnancy and suggests the need to review cutoff values . Interestingly, the nadir of maternal serum ferritin occurs by Week 28, before higher iron demands are believed to occur, a decrease only partially explained by the normal plasma volume expansion that occurs during pregnancy …”

Serum Phthalate and Triclosan Levels Have Opposing Associations With Risk Factors for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

“…For the purposes of diagnosing GDM and estimating β-cell function and insulin resistance, venous plasma glucose levels were estimated by multiplying venous whole blood glucose levels, where available, by 1.08, assuming a haematocrit of 31.5% ( 27 , 28 ). For the 176 women who completed an OGTT prior to May 2007 and, therefore, did not have a 120-min venous whole blood glucose level measured, 120-min venous plasma glucose level was estimated using the equation venous plasma glucose = 1.035 × capillary blood glucose—0.891, which was derived from a linear regression model assessing the ability of 60-min capillary blood glucose to predict 60-min venous plasma glucose using data from the entire CBGS cohort [ R 2 = 0.790, F (1,768) = 2,889.3, p = 2 × 10 −262 ].…”