We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library and World Health Organization regional databases, toidentify studies of routine iron supplementation with or without folic acid during pregnancy and included publications in any language. The last date of search was 2nd June 2011. Following search strategy was used for PubMed: (‘Iron’[Mesh] OR ‘Folic Acid’[Mesh] OR iron OR folic acid OR folate) AND (‘Anemia’[Mesh] OR ‘Anemia, Iron-Deficiency’[Mesh] OR anemia OR neonate OR Low birth weight OR Preterm Birth OR mortality) AND (pregnancy OR maternal). Additional studies were obtained through hand search of references from identified studies and previous reviews.