Pregnant women not need daily iron supplements

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There are plenty of things to worry about when you are pregnant, but do not forget to take a pill daily iron need not be one of them, take extra folic acid iron only twice a week instead of every day, leading to an equally healthy weight at birth, growth rate,

and maybe even better cognitive development, suggests a new study published in the journal PLoS Medicine.

Researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia have ordered more than 1,000 pregnant women in Vietnam is to take daily supplements of folic acid, iron, iron supplements and folic acid twice a week, or supplements of iron and folic acid twice a week as well as micronutrients. Then they measured the baby's weight at birth, how he or she grew up to six months, and cognitive development at the same time.

While birth weight and growth rate was similar in all groups, cognitive scores were actually higher for children whose mothers took supplements twice a week. In addition, women who took supplements twice a week regularly were more likely than those who took daily.

Iron is essential to obtain enough oxygen for you and your baby, and this can affect fetal development, says Mary Jane Minkin, MD, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical School of Yale University. Also, do not have enough iron in the blood can make you feel more tired, which is a big disappointment because pregnancy and very tired.

However, the supply of iron in the blood does not vary much from day to day, said Minkin, and the results of this study suggest that the reduction of twice weekly supplements may not have much impact on the set count iron in the blood or apparently on the health of your child.

And as for folic acid? While reducing food intake may not have had any impact on the outcomes measured in the study strongly suggests Minkin keep taking supplements recommended the days get 0.4 milligrams per day helps to protect your child against neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.

One important thing to remember: the amount of iron you need when you are pregnant may vary from woman to woman, says Minkin, and may also depend on whether you are entering pregnancy iron deficiency. So if you are already pregnant or trying to be, it's best to talk to your doctor about the amount of iron you need to make, if not supplements daily or less frequent dosing.

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