Iron Status During Early and Late Pregnancy in a Swedish Multiethnic Population

Introduction

While ethnic differences in maternal iron deficiency (ID) have been documented in other high-resource settings, such differences in Sweden remain unknown. This study assessed iron status and the prevalence of ID and anemia in pregnant women from different countries of birth in Sweden. Material and methods: This secondary analysis included women enrolled in the randomized controlled Pregnancy and Vitamin D Intervention study (2020-2024;). Blood samples were collected in Trimesters 1 (T1) and 3 (T3), and additional data were obtained from questionnaires and medical records. Women were categorized by region of birth: Europe, Asia, and Africa. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin (Hb) < 110 g/L, and ID was defined using two serum ferritin (SF) thresholds: < 15 and < 30 μg/L.