Can women with thalassemia have healthy pregnancies?
Women with milder forms of thalassemia usually have healthy pregnancies. Until recently, pregnancy was rare in women with beta thalassemia major. Several recent studies suggest that pregnancy appears safe for a woman with well-treated beta thalassemia major who does not have heart problems 9(10). Chelating drugs are usually stopped during pregnancy because it is not known whether they pose risks to the baby (4, 10). As long as a womans partner does not carry a gene for beta thalassemia, her children will not be at risk for thalassemia#although all will be carriers (beta thalassemia minor). back to top What research on thalassemia is being done? Scientists are working on better ways to remove excess iron from the body to prevent or delay iron overload. They are developing and testing new oral iron-chelating drugs and looking at whether combining one of these drugs with deferoxamine may be more effective than either treatment alone (1, 2). Researchers are studying the effectiveness of ce
