1. Normal hemoglobin and hematocrit values: The authors had stated "The cut off value for defining anemia in pregnant women by hemoglobin was <12 g/dL, and hematocrit <36%. These values had been taken from Nelson Text Book of Pediatrics(2). These reference values are for healthy females from 18-49 years of age. No separate reference values have been mentioned for females of this age group during pregnancy. "During preg-nancy there is a physiological fall of Hb, the fall is steepest upto 20 weeks gestation, the concentration remains fairly constant upto 30 weeks and then rises slightly thereafter"(3,4). The authors had over-looked the fact that normal hemoglobin and hematocrit levels could be different for healthy but pregnant women of this age group.

2. Were pregnant women anemic? In a study of 153602 pregnant women (22206 of Indo-Pak origin), the highest mean birth weight of newborns was in women having a hemoglobin between 8.6-9.5 g/dL. These results also suggested that hemo-globin level between 9.6-10.5 g/dL is the best to avoid preterm and small for gestation babies(5). Thus hemoglobin levels between 8.5 and 10.5 is best for the fetal well being and is physiological and normal during pregnancy. The present study group consisted of 80 pregnant women recruited during 16-24 weeks of pregnancy i.e., in 2nd trimester of pregnancy, whose mean hemoglobin was >10.5 g/dL. Should they be considered at risk with regards to the efficiency with which a woman supports her fetus?

3. Rise in hemoglobin: With proper iron supplement, 1 g rise in hemoglobin is expected after 4 weeks of therapy. Hemoglobin rise in group I (daily iron supplement) was from 11.1 ± 1.3 to 11.7 ± 0.9, and in group II (weekly iron supple-ment) was from 10.8 ± 0.9 to 11.2 ± 0.9 in 14 weeks. Slight increase in hemoglobin level occurs otherwise also after 30 weeks of gestation(3,4). The authors had stated: "The rise in Hb and Hct from the start to the end of therapy after 14 weeks was significant in both groups"(1). Should this meagre rise in Hb in 14 weeks be considered significant?