Background: Term small for gestational age (SGA) babies are at risk for developing iron deficiency anemia. The association between maternal and infant iron stores is not clear.
Objective: To assess proportion of term SGA neonates developing iron deficiency anemia by 10 weeks of age, and measure correlation between iron profile and hepcidin of babies at birth and at 10 weeks of age with maternal iron profile.
Design: Prospective cohort study conducted from November, 2018 to April, 2020.
Participants: 120 term SGA babies and their mothers.
Intervention: Hemogram, iron profile and serum hepcidin (every fourth case) estimated in mother, cord blood and baby at 10 weeks. Babies developing anemia at 6 weeks detected by hemogram and ferritin were started on iron supplementation and excluded from the study.
Outcome: Proportion of babies developing iron deficiency anemia at 10 weeks of age.
Results: 35 (29.2%) of 120 term SGA babies developed anemia (hemoglobin <9 g/dL) at 6 weeks. Proportion of infants who developed iron deficiency anemia (hemoglobin <9 g/dL and serum ferritin <40 µ/dL) at 6 and 10 weeks of age was 14.2% and 23.3%, respectively. No significant correlation was found bet-ween hemoglobin, iron and hepcidin of the baby in cord blood and at 10 weeks of age with that of mothers. Serum hepcidin in babies at birth (137.5 ng/mL) were higher than maternal values (128 ng/mL).
Conclusion: A significant proportion of term SGA infants deve-loped anemia during early infancy, irrespective of maternal iron status.