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Is Anemia in Low Income Pregnant Women Related to Their Infants’ Having Anemia? A Cohort Study of Pregnant Women-Infant Pairs in the United States

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Abstract

Objective

Given evidence that anemia in the first year of life is associated with long-term cognitive, motor, and behavioral deficits, reducing infant anemia is important. The primary objective of this research is to examine whether anemia in low income pregnant women in the United States is associated with anemia in the women’s infants.

Methods

This cohort study linked Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance data on pregnant women with incomes below 185% of the federal poverty level from 2010 and 2011 with data on 6–11 month olds from 2011, resulting in a sample of 21,246 uniquely matched mother-infant pairs. We examined bivariate and multivariate relationship between anemia severity in pregnant women and in their infants.

Results

Seventeen percent of women had anemia (13.1% mild and 3.9% moderate to severe) and 20.1% infants had anemia (16.4% mild and 3.7% moderate to severe). For both women and infants, blacks had substantially higher anemia rates than whites. In bivariate analysis and multivariate analyses maternal anemia showed a dose–response relationship to infant anemia. In predicted probabilities from the multivariate models, 27.2% of infants born to pregnant women with moderate to severe anemia had anemia, compared to 23.3% for infants whose mothers had mild anemia, and 18.3% for infants whose mothers did not have anemia.

Conclusion

This study provides strong evidence of a relationship between maternal and infant anemia in the United States among people with low incomes. Efforts to reduce anemia during pregnancy may be an important strategy for minimizing childhood anemia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. George Washington University, 1990 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington 20007, D.C., USA

    Mayri Sagady Leslie, Jeongyoung Park, Linda A. Briggs & Majeda M. El-Banna

  2. Luciano Chair of Health Care Policy, Baruch College, City University of New York, One Bernard Baruch Way, D-901, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Jessica Greene

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  1. Mayri Sagady Leslie
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  2. Jeongyoung Park
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Correspondence to Mayri Sagady Leslie.

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Appendix A

Appendix A

States Included in the Data Used in this Study

Arizona.

Connecticut.

District of Columbia.

Florida.

Hawaii.

Iowa.

Idaho.

Illinois.

Indiana.

Kansas.

Massachusetts.

Michigan.

Minnesota.

Montana.

North Dakota.

New Hampshire.

New Jersey.

New York.

Ohio.

Oregon.

Rhode Island.

Virginia.

Wisconsin.

West Virginia.

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Leslie, M.S., Park, J., Briggs, L.A. et al. Is Anemia in Low Income Pregnant Women Related to Their Infants’ Having Anemia? A Cohort Study of Pregnant Women-Infant Pairs in the United States. Matern Child Health J 24, 768–776 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-020-02912-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-020-02912-8

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