Pregnancy urinary iodine excretion

Figure 2. Urinary iodine excretion during pregnancy (T>Trimester) in eastern part of Germany before and after interdisciplinary iodine prophylaxis (<70) and Ireland 070).

The observations relating to iodine deficiency in pregnancy are firstly those concerned with maternal thyroid function and maternal goiter. Maternal urinary iodine (UI) excretion is the usual method of assessing iodine status in the population at risk or the individual, and is discussed below. Neonatal indicators of maternal iodine deficiency are goiter and neurointellectual impairment. 

Figure 49.2 Urinary iodine (UI) excretion in first-trimester women recruited for a controlled antenatal thyroid screening study. The figure shows random spot UI measurements in 643 women from Wales, UK, studied at 11-15 weeks gestation. Numbers on top of columns indicate % of total. Note that only about 41 % of women appear to excrete an amount of iodine consistent with the recommended daily intake in pregnancy.

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