Anemia during pregnancy, which is fairly common, could raise the baby’s risk of respiratory issues, says a recent study described in Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. In the study, 597 mothers, participants in asthma-in-pregnancy studies, were queried. The results of the study showed that when anemia occurred during pregnancy, there were three times the occurrences of early-onset wheezing in their children, which generally begins to happen around the age of one or two. This condition often carries a 50 percent risk of the child having asthma by six years of age.
The study did not determine exactly why iron deficiency caused the children to later have these respiratory issues. It’s possible that good iron levels in the mother’s blood are necessary to transport oxygen from mother to fetus. It may also be related to the fact that anemia is often just one sign of poor nutrition, which in turn then leads to infant breathing problems.
So, pregnant women should: • Address their own asthma, if they have it. • Eat a good, nutritional diet. • Take a good prenatal supplement to ensure you get all the vitamins and minerals you need.
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