Dear colleagues, I want to do a small literature review as part of my family practice residency, which should answer a "clinical question". I have been involved in iron supplementaion programmes in Malawi in Africa and Zambia, and I know that in Africa we generally say that iron supplementation is imperative in the antenatal period, for all women. Here in Canada I find that only select groups receive iron in pregnancy, such as those with a short birth interval, those with established low haemoglobin, and a few other instances. I am interested in hearing back as to whether you think it is valid to NOT give iron supplementation to all pregnant women? Is this at all a contentious area, or have there been very clear clinical guidelines established (and are these based on good reserach)? Another question, which might be outside of the expertise in this group, is whether there is proven maternal morbidity and perinatal mortality, in women with low iron stores (as measured for instance through ferritin or transeferrin receptor levels) and NORMAL haemoglobin? Many thanks and I hope to hear from you. Pierre Dil home page http://members.truepath.com/dil/dil.html international health page http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Falls/2949/ihealth.htm