Sobre a "anemia" gestacional

Published hard data should also lead to a reconsideration of the measure of haemoglobin concentration in pregnancy. (...) In fact, it cannot diagnose iron deficiency because the blood volume of pregnant women is supposed to increase dramatically, so the haemoglobin concentration indicates first the degree of blood dilution, an effect of placental activity. A large British study (...) found that the highest average birthweight was in the group of women who had a haemoglobin concentration between 8.5 and 9.5. Furthermore, when the haemoglobin fails to fall below 10.5 there is an increased risk of low birthweight and preterm birth. The regrettable consequence of routine evaluation of haemoglobin concentration is that, all over the world, millions of pregnant women are wrongly told that they are anemic and are given iron supplements. There is a tendency both to overlook the side effects of iron (constipation, diarrhoea, heartburn, etc) and to forget that iron inhibits the absorption of such an important growth factor as zinc. Furthermore, iron is an oxidative substance that can exacerbate the production of free radicals and might even increase the risk of pre-eclampsia. (...) 
 
retirado de "Childbirth in the Age of Plastics", Michel Odent, Maio 2011.

O estudo referido no excerto é este:  (Steer, BMJ, 1995: http://www.bmj.com/content/310/6978/489) e refere que: The haemoglobin measurement used was the lowest recorded during pregnancy. (segundo o artigo, atinge o mínimo por volta das 20 semanas).