Biochemical indices of nutritional status in maternal, cord, and early neonatal blood.

The nutritional status of 556 infants born in good health was measured by selected biochemical parameters in maternal venous blood, in mixed arteriovenous cord blood at delivery, and in infant's capillary blood collected at 5 days. The determinations indicating nutritional status were: Hb, hematocrit, protein, cholesterol, triglycerides, vitamins A, C, E, and folic acid, iron, calcium and magnesium. In maternal venous blood, a significant number of women were found to be deficient; 3.4% had Hb below 9.5 g/dl; 6.1% had hematocrit less than 30%; 4.0% had total protein below 5.5 g/dl; 7.0% had vitamin C below 0.20 mg/dl; 3.0% were deficient in iron (less than 40 microgram/dl), 3.6% in folic acid (less than 2.0 ng/ml) and 5.2% in calcium (less than 7.5 mg/dl). Significant correlations were more frequent between maternal and cord blood than in other comparisons. An influence of parity and maternal age was more evident for vitamin C in cord blood than in maternal venous blood. Iron in maternal and cord blood decreased in relation to parity.