Remarks

• This recommendation has been integrated from the 2016 WHO publication Iron supplementation in postpartum women (100), where it was considered a conditional recommendation based on low-certainty evidence.
• The following remarks were among those made by the Guideline Development Group responsible for the original recommendation.
• This recommendation is applicable to all postpartum women, irrespective of their lactation status.
• For ease of implementation and continuity of care, postpartum supplementation should begin as early as possible after birth, and the iron supplementation regimen (that is, the dose and whether the supplement is consumed daily or weekly) should follow that used during pregnancy (16) or alternatively should start with that planned for non-pregnant adult women and adolescent girls (101,

• 102)

• In cases in which a woman is diagnosed with anaemia in a clinical setting (103), she should be treated in accordance with the country’s policy, or the WHO recommendation of daily iron supplements (120 mg of elemental iron plus 400 μg folic acid), until her haemoglobin concentration rises to normal (103, 104).
• Postpartum and lactating women should be encouraged to receive adequate nutrition, which is best achieved through consumption of a balanced, healthy diet (78, 105). a WHO considers a 20% or higher population prevalence of gestational anaemia to be a moderate public health problem.