Consensus Statement #2: American Thyroid Association statement on early maternal thyroidal insufficiency: recognition, clinical management and research directions.

maternal iodine nutrition, and more recently, adequate maternal thyroid hormone is necessary during and after pregnancy to ensure the health of the mother and her offspring. Adequate maternal iodine nutrition must be maintained during pregnancy to meet the increased demand for thyroid hormone production that occurs with pregnancy. Maternal iodine supplies in the United States and in most of the developed world are now sufficient to prevent the occurrence of cretinism and severe mental retardation from iodine deficiency. However, there are still additional adverse outcomes for maternal health, maintenance of pregnancy, and child development that may occur as a result of overt maternal hypothyroidism, as well as subclinical hypothyroidism (normal serum thyroxine concentration and elevated serum thyrotropin [TSH] concentration), maternal hypothyroxinemia (depressed serum free thyroxine concentration), and the presence of thyroid autoantibodies. Key research findings include: