Lower hemoglobin levels in first time mothers from Cebu, Philippines

Abstract

Low hemoglobin levels of primiparous women in this sample might indicate increased nutritional stress associated with first pregnancy.

The reproductive ecology of iron in women

“…Research has suggested that women do in fact recover iron lost to pregnancy during the postpartum period, although the recovery of iron lost may be incomplete (Miller, ). The verdict is still out as to how this recovery occurs—whether it reflects passive absorption of iron, or is mediated by some sort of iron recovery process (Dewey, ; Yoon et al, ). Evidence from studies of hepcidin levels during pregnancy and after pregnancy shows that iron absorption is not upregulated during the postnatal period (van Santen et al, ), suggesting the stronger likelihood of a passive absorption process.…”

“…A study of Nigerian women also found no relationship between parity and hemoglobin and ferritin levels, despite high rates of anemia during pregnancy (Adediran et al, ), and a study in east Sudan found that primigravidous women were more likely to be anemic than other women during pregnancy (although anemia during pregnancy rates were high at 58.4%; Mohamed et al, ). Hemoglobin levels were also lower among primiparous women compared to multiparous women in an age‐matched cohort of Filipino women, although mean hemoglobin levels were not in the anemic range for women of any parity (Yoon et al, ).…”

“…Research has established some ecological differences in iron loss: for example, women in the United States (Miller, ) and Kenya (Miller, ) lose hemoglobin with increasing parity, Kenyan women lose significant more than US women (0.04 vs. 0.18 g/dL per child). Some populations do not show long term reproductive‐related iron depletion, such as severely anemic Au women (Tracer, ) or the relatively replete Filipino women (Yoon et al, ). Anthropologists could potentially expand on this research by investigating more ecological population differences, or by testing the relationship between iron status and interbirth interval.…”