title: Haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations in cord blood in a tertiary health centre in Nigeria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Haemoglobin(Hb) and serum ferritin (SF) concentrations of cord blood of babies born at term at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Maternity Centre (Ayinke House), Ikeja in the South-Western part of Nigeria were determined to establish mean values for these substances in our locality.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To establish the mean values for haemoglobin and serum ferritin concentrations of cord blood of babies born at term in our environment and to determine the prevalence of foetal anaemia and low iron store in cord blood in our locality.
  
  
  METHODS
  Haemoglobin and ferritin levels in cord blood of 142 newborns were determined. Two millilitres of blood was collected from the cord of each newborn into EDTA bottle for complete blood count analysis and another 2mls into a plain bottle for serum ferritin assay. Cut-off values for cord blood Hb and serum ferritin concentrations were 12.5g/dL and 60 microg/L respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean Hb and ferritin values were 13.024 +/- 2.41 g/dL and 70.85 +/- 97.07 microg/dL respectively. The prevalence of foetal anaemia is 32.4 %. About 59.2% of full term newborns had low iron store. Birth weight was significantly associated with Hb concentration (p=0.039) and apga sscore (p=0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of foetal anaemia was 32.4%. More than half (59.2%) of the newborns had low cord blood serum ferritin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria. adediranadewumi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adediran
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gbadegesin
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Adeyemo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akinbami
authors.forename: V O
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Osunkalu
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ogbenna
authors.forename: E O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Temiye
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Akanmu
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001034:Apgar Score; D001724:Birth Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011250:Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D005293:Ferritins