Skip to main content

Maternal Anemia in Early Pregnancy May Increase Risk for Congenital Heart Disease

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 23, 2025.

via HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, April 23, 2025 -- Maternal anemia in early pregnancy is associated with an increased risk for congenital heart disease (CHD) in offspring, according to a study published online April 23 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Manisha Nair, M.B.B.S., from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a matched case-control study from January 1998 to October 2020 to examine whether maternal anemia in early pregnancy is associated with CHD in offspring. Cases were 2,776 women with a child diagnosed with CHD within five years of birth; these women were compared to 13,880 matched control women without a child diagnosed with CHD.

Overall, 123 cases and 390 controls (4.4 and 2.8 percent, respectively) had anemia. The researchers found that the odds of giving birth to a child diagnosed with CHD were significantly higher among mothers with anemia, after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted odds ratio, 1.47).

"The preliminary evidence generated by our research about the association of maternal anemia in early pregnancy with increased rates of CHD in the baby has the potential to substantially reduce the number of children born with CHD, currently estimated as ~2.5 million annually," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Preconception Hypoglycemia Linked to Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

MONDAY, Aug. 4, 2025 -- Preconception hypoglycemia is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, according to a study published online July 29 in PLOS Medicine. Hanbin Wu, from...

Mental Illness Increased During, After Pregnancy for Gestational Carriers

MONDAY, Aug. 4, 2025 -- Gestational carriers seem to be more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness during and after pregnancy than those with unassisted pregnancies or...

Green Space Exposure in Pregnancy, Early Childhood May Cut Risk for Neurodevelopmental Disorders

TUESDAY, July 29, 2025 -- Living near green spaces before and during pregnancy, as well as in early childhood, may lower the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, according to a...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.