Overview

• A UK case-control study of over 16,500 mother-child pairs found a 47% higher odds of congenital heart disease in newborns of anaemic mothers during early pregnancy.
• Anaemia in the first trimester is estimated to account for around 5% of congenital heart disease cases in the UK, a leading cause of infant mortality.
• Nearly 25% of UK pregnancies and over 33% globally involve anaemia, with iron deficiency being a primary cause.
• Researchers are now designing clinical trials to explore whether iron supplementation before and during pregnancy could prevent congenital heart defects.
• Experts emphasize that while the findings are significant, the individual risk of congenital heart disease remains low without a family history.