Bioavailability of iron in two prenatal multivitamin/multimineral supplements

To determine the iron bioavailability in two popular prenatal multivitamin/multimineral supplement tablets containing 27 mg elemental iron.

Iron absorption during an eight-hour period following ingestion of a multivitamin/multimineral formulation, both fasting and with a standardized meal, was measured in a group of 30 pregnant women (24-32 weeks of gestation) and statistically compared. The prenatal formulations were Stuartnatal Plus and Materna (Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), and each contains 27 mg of elemental iron. A placebo was included in the study for the control group in this crossover, single-blind study.

The net iron bioavailability (mean +/- SE) of Stuartnatal Plus and Materna, accounting for diurnal variation, and the iron ingested with the standardized meal was 5.4 +/- 0.4 and 4.6 +/- 0.2 mg, respectively, while fasting and 2.9 +/- 0.4 and 2.7 +/- 0.4 mg, respectively, postprandially. The total amount of iron absorption in the fasting states from both prenatal formulations exceeded the 3 mg of supplemental iron absorption per day recommended by the National Academy of Sciences.

The results of this study indicate that these two prenatal multivitamin/multimineral formulations provide > 3.0 mg of supplemental iron absorption (fasting) as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences and 2.7 mg of iron absorption above the levels achieved following ingestion of a standard, low-iron test meal.