ABSTRACT
For sickle cell disease, see Chapter 15; for von Willebrand disease, see Chapter 16; for care of Jehovah’s
Witness pregnant women, see Chapter 9 in Obstetric Evidence Based Guidelines.
DEFINITION Hemoglobin (Hgb) <11 g/dL and hematocrit (Hct) <33% in the first or third trimesters and <10.5 g/dL and Hct <32% in the second trimester [1,2]. For African American women, recommend lowering cutoffs for Hgb and Hct by 0.8 g/dL and 2%, respectively [3]. Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy is defined as serum ferritin <15 µg/L with a Hgb <11 g/dL and Hct <33% [4,5].
