Table 6: comparison of the reference intervals of the erythrocytes index of our study with those found in the literature (longitudinal study performed for 434 Danish pregnant women)

Our study (with and without iron supplements)

Literature (with iron supplements) [12,13]

Red cell indices

Second trimester

Third trimester

Second trimester 18weeks

Third trimester

32 weeks

RBCx1012/L

4.02(3.26 –4.82)

3.92(3.19 – 4.78)

3.93 (3.43–4.49)

3.86 (3.38–4.43)

HGB (g/dL)

11.68(9.6-13.6)

11.22(9.1 – 13.4)

11.9 (10.6–13.3)

11.9 (10.4–13.5)

HCT (%)

34.44(28.6 – 39.9)

33.20(27.34 – 39.3)

35 (31–39)

35 (31–40)

MCV (fL)

85.73(74.7 – 97.7)

84.77(72.8 – 96.1)

89 (83–96)

91 (85–97)

MCH (pg)

29.17(24.0 – 33.3)

28.74(23.0 – 33.4)

30 (27–33)

30 (28–33)

MCHC (g/dL)

34.01(31.2 – 36.6)

33.82(30.8 – 36.2)

34 (33–36)

34 (33–36)

Mean and reference ranges (2.5th – 97.5th centiles). RBC, red blood cell; HGB, hemoglobin; HCT, hematocrit; MCV, mean corpuscular volume; MCH, mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration