A year-long study by a city hospital has found high iron deficiency in newborns, indicating considerable lack of the essential mineral during the crucial developmental stages of a foetus. Doctors say in-utero deficiency of iron can lead to irreversible damages, including poor brain development. In the study conducted at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, between July 2011 and March 2012, doctors extracted the cord blood of the neonates — blood from the umbilical cord of the newborn — immediately after birth. Three batches, of 30 newborns each, were formed — those with normal growth, those that had restricted growth, and infants of diabetic mothers. A total of 25.5 per cent of all the babies studied were found to be deficient in stored iron. Normal birth weight babies had the lowest deficiency, with only 13.3 per cent of them having low cord blood ferritin levels. In comparison, nearly double the number of babies with restricted growth were found deficient — at 26.7 per cent. Babies with diabetic mothers were found to be the most deficient, with 26.7 per cent of babies in this category showing low-stored iron levels. In all these cases, maternal iron samples were found to be much poorer than in newborns. Ferritin levels below 75 µg/L were defined as deficient, as is the international standard for proper neurodevelopmental abilities of the infant. Doctors have called for a universal screening programme for iron deficiency in newborns, and persistent monitoring of iron levels in pregnant women. Dr Satish Saluja, senior consultant in the department of neonatology at the hospital and corresponding author of the study, said: "Iron deficiency is normally measured by haemoglobin levels, since free iron in the body contributes to haemoglobin formation. However, latent iron deficiency, which we have studied, begins to occur much before this stage. It is a condition when the body's iron storage starts depleting." This deficiency in stored iron is measured as depleting levels of serum ferritin — a cellular protein that stores iron and releases it, as and when required. In India, there is no organised screening programme to test for iron deficiency and supplementation is only advised in infants of at least six months of age. Doctors say since uterine iron deficiency has a high possibility of being irreversible, the age for iron supplementation in babies also needs to be brought down. "If deficiency is detected at birth, especially in case of infants prone to deficiency like those of diabetic mothers, the ideal age for supplementation also needs to be debated. International studies have shown the deficiency may be irreversible, so we need to see if supplementation right after birth may help in improving outcomes," Dr Sauja said.