[Anemia in pregnancy. Review].

Pregnancy anemia occurs when the concentration of hemoglobin in pregnant women is less than 11 g/dl, provided that they live at sea level. Nutritional deficiencies of iron and folic acid, combined or isolated, are the main causes of this type of anemia, due to increased demands of nutrients to satisfy the needs of the fetus and the growing tissues during pregnancy. Nutritional deficiency of vitamin B12 is infrequent during pregnancy unless there are coexistant gastrointestinal abnormalities or immunological processes. The recommended therapy for iron or folic acid deficiency is oral administration of ferrous salts or folic acid, in daily doses that should not be higher than 60 mg of elemental iron or 2.5 mg of folic acid.