Cord serum and placental tissue iron status in maternal hypoferremia.

Studies on 85 mothers with term infants and 32 mothers with preterm infants revealed that the cord serum and placental tissue iron levels were significantly reduced (P less than 0.001) in the mothers with hypoferremia (serum iron less than or equal to 50 microgram/100 ml). These levels were found to have linear correlations with the maternal serum iron levels, suggesting that the fetus and the placenta extracted iron in amounts proportional to the levels available in the mother. The high serum iron values in cord blood compared to the maternal blood even in the mothers with hypoferremia suggested that the process of active transfer of iron from mother to the fetus was maintained in maternal iron deficiency.