Women urged to support taking iron in pregnancy research at NGH

Northampton General Hospital is encouraging pregnant women to take part in a research trial to find out how valuable taking iron supplements can be during pregnancy.

The hospital is taking part in national research across 40 hospitals in a new trial - called PANDA (Primary prevention of maternal ANaemia to avoid preterm Delivery and other Adverse outcomes).

The aim is to see if routinely taking iron prevents anaemia and hence reduces associated risks of stillbirth, pre-term birth, postnatal depression, haemorrhage after delivery, and the need for blood transfusions.

Around one in three pregnant women will develop anaemia and need treatment with oral iron supplements (iron tablets).

Clinical Research Manager at NGH, Lucy Dudgeon, said: “In the past taking iron in pregnancy was commonly recommended but in more recent years it hasn’t been recommended in the same way except where people’s medical conditions support it.

“The trial will investigate if taking iron supplements preventatively, even before a mother has developed anaemia, is beneficial to both mother and baby and will reduce the symptoms and outcomes that go with low iron in pregnancy.”

Research in other countries – where iron is routinely prescribed - has suggested that routinely taking iron supplements during pregnancy can prevent anaemia, reducing the risk of stillbirth, pre-term birth, postnatal depression, haemorrhage after delivery and the need for blood transfusions. It is also known ‘that iron plays an important role in a baby’s neurodevelopment’.

Principal investigator for the trial at NGH, Dr Sambita Basak, said: ‘The trial is now open to women who are in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy with a single baby and those who join will be given either iron supplements or placebo tablets, to take every day throughout their pregnancy and until six weeks after birth’.

“It is safe and commonly used medication, and we will be approaching women with an information leaflet and phone call.

“We are asking for volunteers for the trial so that we get a good uptake and can contribute meaningfully to the research.

“This research addresses the very common problem of anaemia in pregnancy. We want to find out if taking iron throughout pregnancy has a benefit for both mother and infant. If it does it may well mean the NHS changes its maternity recommendations to improve outcomes for mothers.”

Women will not be eligible if they have known blood disorders, are taking or receiving iron transfusions, have severe gastrointestinal diseases, chronic renal failure, haemochromatosis or an allergy to iron, or have received a blood transfusion within the last 30 days.

Iron has been used for many decades to treat anaemia – there are occasional side-effects to the mother and no risks to the baby.

The national study is being led by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and the University of Oxford and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Further information can be found here: PANDA - Clinical Trials Unit - NHS Blood and Transplant