Early gestation screening of pregnant women for iodine deficiency disorders and iron deficiency in urban centre in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

Pregnancy is a special condition where many metabolic changes may occur because of increased requirement of essential micronutrients such as iron and iodine. Foetal thyroid starts producing its own thyroid hormones after 12 weeks of gestation. Therefore, the first trimester is very crucial for meeting thyroid hormone requirements of the mother and foetus. Iodine deficiency and iron deficiency may affect mental and physical growth of the foetus. Hence, it is very important to establish a programme on the screening of pregnant women for thyroid dysfunction tests along with established iron status assessment. Thus, the study was aimed to screen the pregnant women for iodine deficiency disorders and iron deficiency during early gestation, situational analysis on thyroid insufficiency and iron deficiency in pregnant women (gestational age <15 weeks) in urban Vadodara, Gujarat. n = 256 healthy pregnant women with uncomplicated singleton pregnancy were selected. The thyroid hormone was estimated by RIA, UIE using simple microplate technique and haemoglobin (Hb) concentration by acid hematin method. Median thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), total thyroxine (TT4) and UIE concentrations were 1.88 μIU/ml, 0.83 ng/dl, 10.24 μg/dl and 297.14 mcg/l, respectively. There was a significant correlation between TSH, FT4 and month of gestation. Mean Hb concentration was 9.27 ± 1.09 g/dl. The prevalence of iodine insufficiency (based on UI) was 16.79% and iron deficiency was 91%. Screening programme for iodine deficiency during early gestation should be implemented along with the existing programme of haemoglobin estimation at first prenatal visit. This would help prevent damage to the developing brain and growth of the foetus and also to trace at-risk pregnant women.