The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently released a Recommendation Statement examining the data to support screening for iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy and finding them lacking. It also found insufficient evidence to make a clear recommendation for or against preventive iron supplementation in pregnancy, which has been a routine practice for decades, with up to 77% to 89% of patients reporting supplement use. As highlighted previously by the USPSTF and others, there is an urgent need for studies and clinical trials to support evidence-based medicine in the obstetric population, and this can only be accomplished by ceasing paternalistic approaches that have led to the exclusion of pregnant patients in research. All of this remains true, and there is still so very far to go.
