ArticlePloS one2019
Maternal iron-deficiency is associated with premature birth and higher birth weight despite routine antenatal iron supplementation in an urban South African setting: The NuPED prospective study.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of maternal anemia during pregnancy on low birth weight in Ethiopia; a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Maternal low and high hemoglobin concentrations and associations with adverse maternal and infant health outcomes: an updated global systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Pooled it
- The prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of anaemia in South African pregnant women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Prevalence of Anaemia, Iron Deficiency, and Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Women of Reproductive Age and Children under 5 Years of Age in South Africa (1997-2021): A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Iron deficiency with and without anemia in pregnancy: A scoping review of prevalence and perinatal impact.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- Functional Capacity and Gut Microbiota Shifts in Heart Failure Patients Following Cardiac Rehabilitation.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Vitamin A intake and status and associations with iron status, anaemia and birth outcomes of pregnant women in the Free State Province, South Africa: the Nutritional Status of Expectant Mothers and their newborn Infants (NuEMI) study.The British journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Article
- Innovative Plant-Based Nutraceuticals: Enhancing Iron Bioavailability to Address Iron Deficiency Anaemia.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Iron as a Modifiable Factor for Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Refining and Understanding Causal Estimates Using Mendelian Randomization.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
- Iron status at early pregnancy is associated with infectious respiratory and gastric illness in women receiving routine iron supplementation: the NuPED prospective cohort.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Regional and sub-regional estimates of low birth weight and its determinants in 44 low- and middle-income countries: evidence from demographic and health survey data.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Iron status, anemia, and birth outcomes among pregnant women in urban Bloemfontein, South Africa: the NuEMI study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Using 3 Definitions Among Women in the US and Canada.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- A Scoping Review of Preterm Birth Risk Factors.American journal of perinatology · 2024Article
- Unraveling the Role of Maternal Serum Ferritin Levels in Preterm Delivery: A Comprehensive Review.Cureus · 2024Review
- An audit of the iron status of patients at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, in Johannesburg, South Africa.African journal of laboratory medicine · 2024Article
- Anaemia at mid-pregnancy is associated with prehypertension in late pregnancy among urban women.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2024Article
- Patient Blood Management in Pregnancy.Transfusion medicine and hemotherapy : offizielles Organ der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Transfusionsmedizin und Immunhamatologie · 2023Review
- Prevalence of anemia and comparison of perinatal outcomes among anemic and nonanemic mothers.Journal of education and health promotion · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecent studies are suggesting a U-shaped relationship between antenatal iron exposure and birth outcomes. Little is known about the iron status and associated birth outcomes of pregnant women in South Africa. Our aim was to assess iron status at early, mid- and late pregnancy, and to determine associations with gestational age and birth weight in women in Johannesburg, South Africa.
methodsIn this prospective study of 250 pregnant women, we measured haemoglobin, biomarkers of iron status and inflammation at <18, 22 and 36 weeks of gestation, plus birth weight and gestational age at delivery. Associations of anaemia and iron status with birth outcomes were determined using regression models adjusted for confounders.
resultsAt enrolment, the prevalence of anaemia, iron depletion (ID) and iron deficiency erythropoiesis (IDE) was 29%, 15% and 15%, respectively, and increased significantly with pregnancy progression. Anaemia and ID at 22 weeks, as well as IDE at 36 weeks were associated with higher birth weight (β = 135.4; 95% CI: 4.8, 266.1 and β = 205.4; 95% CI: 45.6, 365.1 and β = 178.0; 95% CI: 47.3, 308.7, respectively). Women in the lowest ferritin quartile at 22 weeks gave birth to babies weighing 312 g (95% CI: 94.8, 528.8) more than those in the highest quartile. In contrast, IDE at 22 weeks was associated with a higher risk for premature birth (OR: 3.57, 95% CI: 1.24, 10.34) and women in lower haemoglobin quartiles at <18 weeks had a shorter gestation by 7 days (β = -6.9, 95% CI: -13.3, -0.6) compared to those in the highest quartile.
conclusionAnaemia, ID and IDE prevalence increased during pregnancy despite routine iron supplementation. ID and anaemia at mid-pregnancy were associated with higher birth weight, while IDE was associated with premature birth. These results suggest that current antenatal screening and supplementation practices in South Africa need to be revisited.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.