prevalence of iron deficiency in non-anemic pregnant women during the first trimester: a prospective cohort study

Background: the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of iron deficiency in non-anemic mothers during the first trimester of pregnancy. methods: a prospective cohort study was conducted involving 876 pregnant women who visited mahdieh hospital in 2022. blood samples were collected to measure hemoglobin (hb), hematocrit (hct), and ferritin levels. a ferritin level below 30 ng/dl was considered indicative of iron deficiency. results: the study found that patients with ferritin levels ≥ 30 ng/dl had higher average age (95% ci: -1.92 to -0.16; p = 0.02) and hb levels (95% ci: -0.51 to -0.15; p < 0.001) were higher in patients with ferritin levels ≥ 30 ng/dl. no significant correlation was found between ferritin levels and weight (95% ci: -2.78 to 1.01; p = 0.36), height (95% ci: -0.45 to 1.11; p = 0.40), or bmi (95% ci: -0.86 to 1.27; p = 0.44). additionally, there was no significant relationship between ferritin levels and parity (p = 0.06), education (p = 0.85), income (p = 0.98), dietary habits (p = 0.27), or abnormal uterine bleeding (aub) (p = 0.51) with ferritin level in patients (p > 0.05). however, the incidence of abortion was higher in patients with ferritin levels ≥ 30 ng/dl (p = 0.01). logistic regression analysis revealed that only hb levels had a statistically significant relationship with ferritin levels (95% ci: 0.02 to 0.28; p = 0.02). conclusions: in general, it can be said that hb and abortion factors can be related to iron deficiency in pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy.