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December 3, 2025
Iron for healthy pregnancies
Iron is a nutrient of concern during pregnancy. Last year, Health Canada undertook a process to revise select nutrition pregnancy guidelines for health professionals. Research was conducted to determine the amount of iron required to compensate for inadequate dietary iron intakes during pregnancy. This analysis was recently published in the October 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Health Canada researchers estimated the prevalence of apparently inadequate iron intakes from diet alone to be very high among pregnant women. As many as 85% of Canadian women may have iron intakes below the Estimate Average Requirement during pregnancy (based on usual food intakes, without added supplementation). This estimate was based on the distribution of usual dietary intakes using recall data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 2.2.
These findings highlight the importance of educating Canadian women about adequate iron intakes during pregnancy, both from food and supplements. Iron needs increase during pregnancy to support maternal health and healthy pregnancy outcomes. Adequate iron intakes support increased maternal red blood cell mass, fetal growth and normal brain development.
For Your Practice
Health Canada's Prenatal Nutrition Guidelines for Health Professionals provides recommendations for optimizing iron intake from food sources and selecting a multivitamin in Iron Contributes to a Healthy Pregnancy. The Public Health Agency of Canada also encourages Canadian women to eat foods rich in iron to increase iron intakes for a healthy pregnancy.
Want to Learn More?
Read Application of the Dietary Reference Intakes in developing a recommendation for pregnancy iron supplements in Canada by Cockell KA et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 90: 1023-8.
See our resources on iron, including Iron for All Ages � Iron for Health for
health professionals plus Iron and Women and Iron... Get Rich! A wealth of easy food ideas for your clients.
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