Our estimate of low Hb (4%) was similar to a 2015 South Australian estimate of women with anaemia in pregnancy (6.6%).[30] International studies have found much higher rates of maternal anaemia with a global estimate of 38% in 2011.[31] The high proportion of women with a history of iron-deficiency anaemia in our population (15%), particularly in the low Hb group, suggest there may have been opportunities to correct low Hb due to iron deficiency before the pregnancy. This evidence concerns the gene GSTM1 and nutritional disorder.