Study: Pregnant anemia can increase the risk of embryos in heart disease

A scientific study showed a link between mothers with anemia during the early stages of pregnancy and the increased risk of their children with birth defects in the heart. The study published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics included the analysis of health records of 2,776 women who bore children with innate heart disease, compared to 13 thousand and 880 women who born healthy children. The results showed that 4.4% of children with congenital heart defects suffer from anemia, compared to only 2.8% among healthy children. After controlling all possible effective factors, it has been found that the risk of a child with an innate heart disorder increases by 47% in mothers with anemia. Iron deficiency in pregnant women said the lead author of the study, Dinkan B. Sparrow, the most important researcher at the University of Oxford, these results are a qualitative shift in our understanding of the causes of congenital heart defects. “It shifts us from laboratory studies to practical clinical applications. Knowing that early anemia has this devastating effect during pregnancy, the rules of the game at world level can change.” He continued to say: “Since iron deficiency is the cause of much anemia, the recommendation to generalize iron supplements to women – whether planning for pregnancy or during pregnancy – can help prevent many innate heart disease in births before it occurs.” The exact cause of this relationship is not known, but the researchers indicated that iron is a decisive element in shaping the cardiovascular and blood vessels between 3 and 8 weeks of pregnancy when forming basic heart structures, and its deficit can lead to disturbance of the process of fetal formation and obstruction of metabolism to the heartbeat. Iron deficiency can reduce the supply of oxygen and food for the fetus at this critical stage of the development of the heart, and the risk can be exacerbated because many women enter the load with an iron stock that is already low without knowing it, which causes the fetus to lack the first moments of creation. The study highlights the importance of early anemia examination in pregnant women and the need to keep the nutritional supplements recommended by doctors. It also opens the door for developing new protective strategies that can save thousands of children from the risk of birth disease that can accompany their life.