Background: Maternal iron condition influences the iron
status of neonates since iron transferred from the mother is
the only source for fetal iron. The aim of this study was to
examine the association of obesity with inflammatory
markers (CRP) and iron status in both mother and infant.
Methods: This comparative cross sectional study was
conducted on 100 pregnant women and their neonate from
the attendance of Agouza Police Hospital and Benha
University Hospitals. Results: Our results shows that there
was no statistically significant difference found between
obese and non-obese pregnant women regarding neonatal
HB, TLC, Platelets count, Serum iron in cord, TIBC in cord
and CRP in cord. There was a negative impact of maternal
BMI on neonatal iron status. The maternal obesity was
inversely associated with cord ferritin concentrations,
poorer iron status determined by cord ferritin were evident
in the neonates of obese women, compared with those born
to normal weight women. Maternal CRP, maternal hepcidin
and maternal serum transferrin receptor were greater in obese compared with normal
weight pregnant women. Conclusion: There is a negative impact of maternal BMI on
neonatal iron status. The maternal obesity was inversely associated with cord ferritin
concentrations, poorer iron status determined by cord ferritin were evident in the
neonates of obese women, compared with those born to normal weight women. The
concentrations of CRP was greater in obese compared with normal weight pregnant
women. Serum hepcidin was elevated in obese pregnant women compared with the
normal weight women in this study