Maternal anaemia linked to brain differences that emerge after birth and widen over time

A King's College London and University of Cape Town study published September 9, 2026, in Brain Communications tracked over 300 mother-infant pairs in Cape Town. Babies born to mothers with even mild anaemia had brains roughly 4% smaller. The differences, in regions governing movement, learning, and emotion, were absent at birth but appeared at age one and widened by age two — suggesting mitigation may extend beyond pregnancy into early postnatal life.