Studies of the Blood in Normal Pregnancy

The Blood in Pregnancy

“…at the seventh month, after which it increased slightly until the end of the period. The fall in haemoglobin has been attributed to hydraemia, and the findings of Dieckmann and Wegner (1934a) go to support this view. They observed that an increase occurs in the total plasma of the blood, and that the amount of the increase is relatively greater than that which takes place in the total number of red cells -and in the total haemoglobin in the body.…”

“…Dieckmann and Wegner (1934a) found that it fell steadily in thirteen healthy women to a minimum of 88.4 per cent. at the seventh month, after which it increased slightly until the end of the period.…”

“…as the critical point on the Dare scale. But since Dieckmann and Wegner (1934a) showed that the haemoglobin falls -by about 15 per cent. on an average at the seventh month of pregnancy compared with the non-pregnant state we may regard 60 per cent.…”

Observations on Prevention and Diagnosis of Anaemia in Pregnancy

“…as physiological (Greenhill, 1951;Whitby and Britton, 1957). This view is based on the blood-volume studies by Dieckmann and Wegner (1934) and others, which revealed that, with advancing pregnancy, the increase in plasma volume outstrips a similar increase in the red-cell mass. Since it was shown, however (Benstead and Theobald, 1952;Fisher and Biggs, 1955;Kerr and Davidson, 1958), that a majority of such "physiological " anaemias respond to iron therapy, it has become necessary to revise the definition of pregnancy anaemia (Holland and Bourne, 1955;Camilleri, 1958).…”

Changes in Size of Red Cells During Normal Pregnancy

“…The M.C.V. in pregnancy has been said to range from 77 to 100 p3 (Dieckmann and Wegner, 1934 ;Bethell, 1936;Watson, 1938). Elliott (1944) in a series of 20 normal women tested between the 10th and 38th weeks of pregnancy found an M.C.V.…”