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Iron in pregnancy
EFSA sets the same 16 milligrams a day for pregnancy as for other premenopausal women. That is one of the most counter-intuitive numbers on this site, and it needs the explanation that goes with it.
EFSA note on this row: EFSA sets no increase over premenopausal women
These are published population reference values, not a diagnosis and not a prescription. A reference intake describes what covers a healthy group; it cannot tell you your own status, and no page can. Pregnancy, chronic illness, medicines and malabsorption all change the picture — take those questions to a doctor, midwife, pharmacist or dietitian.
Why the published number does not rise
A pregnancy costs iron: the fetus and placenta take it, and maternal red cell mass expands substantially. Against that sit two things. Menstruation stops for the duration, removing the largest routine loss. And iron absorption increases markedly as pregnancy progresses, to a multiple of the non-pregnant rate by the third trimester.
EFSA judged that those adaptations, together with iron mobilised from stores, offset the additional demand across the pregnancy as a whole, and set the same 16 mg a day. It is a statement about a population average with adequate stores at conception, and EFSA said so.
Which is why iron deficiency in pregnancy is still common
The adaptation argument assumes reasonable iron stores at the start. Many women enter pregnancy with low stores precisely because the premenopausal requirement is hard to meet, and the demand is concentrated in the second half of the pregnancy while the stores were built before it.
That is why antenatal care in the Baltic and Nordic countries measures haemoglobin and, where indicated, ferritin, rather than relying on a dietary reference value. Anaemia in pregnancy is associated with poorer outcomes, and it is treatable. The measurement is the point.
What to do with this page
Use it to understand why a table says one thing and your midwife says another: they are answering different questions. A reference intake describes a population; your antenatal team is looking at your blood.
Do not start or stop an iron supplement in pregnancy on the basis of a web page. Iron supplements are commonly prescribed in pregnancy and commonly not, depending on the blood results, and taking them unnecessarily causes constipation and nausea at a time when both are already likely.
How this compares with every other group
| Group | Reference value | Type | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infants 7-11 months | 11 mg | PRI | |
| Children 1-3 years | 7 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 1-6 years |
| Children 4-6 years | 7 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 1-6 years |
| Children 7-10 years | 11 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 7-11 years |
| Boys 15-17 years | 11 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 12-17 years |
| Girls 15-17 years | 13 mg | PRI | EFSA band is 12-17 years, once menstruating |
| Men 19-50 | 11 mg | PRI | |
| Women 19-50 | 16 mg | PRI | premenopausal, for menstrual losses |
| Men 51 and over | 11 mg | PRI | |
| Women 51 and over | 11 mg | PRI | postmenopausal, the same as men |
| Pregnancy | 16 mg | PRI | EFSA sets no increase over premenopausal women |
| Breastfeeding | 16 mg | PRI | EFSA sets no increase over premenopausal women |
Ordinary food against the 16 mg figure for pregnancy
Top of this list: Soybeans, 7.71 mg in a 150 g serving (a portion, cooked) — 48% of the 16 mg figure for pregnancy. It would take about 3 of those to cover a full day from that one food, which is why a real diet spreads it across several rows.
| Food | Ordinary portion | Per portion | Share of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soybeans | a portion, cooked, 150 g | 7.71 mg | 48% |
| Veal liver | a small portion, 100 g | 6.4 mg | 40% |
| Lentils | a portion, cooked, 180 g | 5.99 mg | 37% |
| Tofu | a slab, 100 g | 5.36 mg | 34% |
| Chickpeas | a portion, cooked, 150 g | 4.33 mg | 27% |
| Natto | a small portion, 50 g | 4.3 mg | 27% |
| Whole-wheat pasta | a portion, cooked, 200 g | 3.44 mg | 22% |
| Ground beef | a portion, 120 g | 3.2 mg | 20% |
| Black beans | a portion, cooked, 150 g | 3.15 mg | 20% |
| Pumpkin seeds | 2 tbsp, 30 g | 2.65 mg | 17% |
| Barley | a portion, cooked, 180 g | 2.39 mg | 15% |
| Oats | 50 g dry, 50 g | 2.35 mg | 15% |
Portion sizes are ordinary household servings chosen for this table, not official reference portions, and the shortlist is an editorial one: everyday foods eaten in this region rather than the highest per-100 g entries in the database. A raw per-100 g ranking would be topped by dried herbs, drink powders and fortified breakfast cereals, which answers a different question. The composition data is American, so where US fortification practice differs from European practice the row carries a dagger and the reason. For the full per-100 g ranking of a nutrient, the food-data section of this site publishes one.
The whole nutrient, not just this group
The Iron reference intake page carries the full age and sex table, the upper level, and what the value type means.
Related pages
Iron for women aged 19 to 50
The same nutrient, a different life stage.
Iron for girls aged 15 to 17
The same nutrient, a different life stage.
Iron for children aged 1 to 3
The same nutrient, a different life stage.
Folate in pregnancy
The same life stage, a different nutrient.
Vitamin D in pregnancy
The same life stage, a different nutrient.
Iodine in pregnancy
The same life stage, a different nutrient.
Sources: EFSA Dietary Reference Values · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (food composition) · EFSA scientific opinion on dietary reference values for iron (2015) · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · checked 2026-09-06
Frequently asked questions
Do you need more iron in pregnancy?
EFSA sets the same 16 mg a day as for other premenopausal women, because menstruation stops and iron absorption increases during pregnancy. Individual needs are assessed by blood tests in antenatal care.
Should every pregnant woman take an iron supplement?
That is a clinical decision based on haemoglobin and ferritin, not a dietary one. Antenatal care screens for anaemia and prescribes iron where it is needed.
Why is iron deficiency common in pregnancy if the requirement does not rise?
Because the adaptation argument assumes adequate iron stores at conception, and many women start pregnancy with low stores. The demand is also concentrated in the second half of the pregnancy.
Turn a reference value into your own week
TempoLife adds up what you actually ate, so you can see how a real week sits against the figure on this page.