Nigeria: Anaemia in pregnancy: How simple blood test forecasts future health risks

Iron deficiency is ‘very common’ among healthy, low-risk pregnant women, with a notably higher prevalence on the African continent. When a woman becomes pregnant, her iron requirements increase almost tenfold to support foetal development as well as her own increased iron needs.

Iron deficiency can lead to anaemia, a condition in which the body can’t produce sufficient haemoglobin, which, in turn, limits the red blood cells’ ability to carry oxygenated blood throughout the…