biostudies-literatureUnknown132(8)Nair MBritish Heart FoundationMedical Research CouncilNational Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley<h4>Objective</h4>Assessment of whether maternal anaemia in early pregnancy is associated with offspring congenital heart disease (CHD).<h4>Design</h4>Matched case-control study.<h4>Setting</h4>January 1998-October 2020, United Kingdom.<h4>Population</h4>Women with a haemoglobin measurement in the first 100 days of pregnancy and a CHD-diagnosed child.<h4>Methods</h4>Data were extracted from the United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD database of electronic health records. Cases were 2,776 women with a CHD-diagnosed child. These were compared to 13 880 matched controls, women without a CHD-diagnosed child. Anaemia was classified as < 110 g/L haemoglobin following the WHO definition. A conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted, adjusted for potential maternal demographic and health-related confounders.<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>Offspring CHD diagnosed within 5 years of birth.<h4>Results</h4>123 (4.4%) cases and 390 (2.8%) controls had anaemia. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds of giving birth to a CHD-diagnosed child were 47% higher among anaemic mothers (adjusted OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.18,1.83, p < 0.001).<h4>Conclusions</h4>The observed association between maternal anaemia in early pregnancy and increased risk of offspring CHD supports our recent evidence in mice. Approximately two-thirds of anaemia cases globally are due to iron deficiency. A clinical trial of periconceptional iron supplementation might be a minimally invasive and low-cost intervention for the prevention of some CHD if iron deficiency anaemia is proven to be a cause.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology1139-1146https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12137751biostudies-literatureMaternal Anaemia and Congenital Heart Disease in Offspring: A Case-Control Study Using Linked Electronic Health Records in the United Kingdom.PMC12137751Sparrow DBSmith MBankhead CRNair MDrakesmith CWfalseMaternal Anaemia and Congenital Heart Disease in Offspring: A Case-Control Study Using Linked Electronic Health Records in the United Kingdom.<h4>Objective</h4>Assessment of whether maternal anaemia in early pregnancy is associated with offspring congenital heart disease (CHD).<h4>Design</h4>Matched case-control study.<h4>Setting</h4>January 1998-October 2020, United Kingdom.<h4>Population</h4>Women with a haemoglobin measurement in the first 100 days of pregnancy and a CHD-diagnosed child.<h4>Methods</h4>Data were extracted from the United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD database of electronic health records. Cases were 2,776 women with a CHD-diagnosed child. These were compared to 13 880 matched controls, women without a CHD-diagnosed child. Anaemia was classified as < 110 g/L haemoglobin following the WHO definition. A conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted, adjusted for potential maternal demographic and health-related confounders.<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>Offspring CHD diagnosed within 5 years of birth.<h4>Results</h4>123 (4.4%) cases and 390 (2.8%) controls had anaemia. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds of giving birth to a CHD-diagnosed child were 47% higher among anaemic mothers (adjusted OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.18,1.83, p < 0.001).<h4>Conclusions</h4>The observed association between maternal anaemia in early pregnancy and increased risk of offspring CHD supports our recent evidence in mice. Approximately two-thirds of anaemia cases globally are due to iron deficiency. A clinical trial of periconceptional iron supplementation might be a minimally invasive and low-cost intervention for the prevention of some CHD if iron deficiency anaemia is proven to be a cause.2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Jul2026-05-29T16:32:53.278Z2025-07-26T03:06:33.125ZS-EPMC121377514026435410.1111/1471-0528.18150