(803) Impact of Iron Deficiency in Pregnancy on Childhood Neurodevelopmental Outcomes

Friday, January 31, 2025

10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Submitting Author and Presenting Author(s)

Kimberly Ryan, MD

Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States

Coauthor(s)

LW

Lucy Ward, MS

Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States
JS

Joseph Shatzel, MD

Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States
LN

Libby Nousen, MS

Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States
Jamie O. Lo, MD

Associate Professor
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States
HG

Hanna Goustafsson, PhD

Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States
AB

Ashley E. Benson, MD

Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States
ES

Elinor Sullivan, PhD

Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States

Objective: Iron deficiency in pregnancy is common and associated with perinatal morbidity. Retrospective studies suggest an association between prenatal iron deficiency and worsened long term childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate childhood neurodevelopment from infancy to two years of age and perinatal outcomes associated with iron deficiency in pregnancy.

Study Design: Prespecified secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study evaluating the influence of prenatal exposures on child neurodevelopmental outcomes. Patients were recruited prior to 24 weeks gestation. Pregnancy and health information was extracted from medical health records. Prenatal iron deficiency was defined as serum ferritin <30ng/mL. Childhood neurodevelopment was assessed through the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) at 1, 6, 12,18 and 24 months of age. Mean ASQ subscale scores and their 95% confidence intervals were graphed across 1-24 months.

Results: A total of 147 maternal-child dyads met inclusion criteria; 104 (70.7%) had prenatally diagnosed iron deficiency, 43 (29.3%) did not have iron deficiency. These groups had similar baseline characteristics (Table 1). The mean ferritin in pregnancy in the iron deficient group was 23.8 ng/mL, compared to 64.9 ng/mL in those without iron deficiency. There was a trend towards lower ASQ fine motor skills, persisting from 1 to 18 months of age, in children with maternal prenatal iron deficiency as compared to those without, however, this did not achieve significance (Figure 1). Otherwise, other ASQ scores were similar across the timepoints.

Conclusion: Although prenatal iron deficiency was not associated with significant differences in childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes via the ASQ, larger studies are warranted to evaluate the relationship between iron deficiency and diminished motor skills as this trend has been previously described in retrospective studies.