Maternal nutrition in early pregnancy may affect placental ratio

EDITOR,—In their editorial discussing the early origins of coronary heart disease Nigel Paneth and Mervyn Susser emphasise the importance of further investigation of the influences on the ratio of placental to fetal weight.1 Godfrey et al have proposed that iron deficiency has a role since low maternal haemoglobin concentrations and a decrease in mean red cell volume during pregnancy are associated with an increase in the ratio.2 In contrast, Perry et al found no relation between maternal haemoglobin concentrations in early pregnancy and placental …