PRIORITY is a 2-arm, randomized-controlled trial (RCT) that will be implemented at 8 sites in 7 countries: Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, India (Nagpur and Belagavi), Kenya, Pakistan, and Zambia. The research team for each site will enroll approximately 600 women who deliver at a hospital or other facility such as a health center with delivery services. Participants will be randomized to receive a single-dose IV iron infusion between 6 and 48 hours after delivery prior to discharge from the facility or oral iron tablets taken twice daily for 6 weeks. They will then be assessed by research staff at an appropriate health facility at 6 weeks and 6 months post-delivery by providing a maternal blood sample that will be analyzed to determine Hb concentration. At each study visit, trained staff will also measure serum ferritin, serum transferrin receptor, C-reactive protein (CRP) and alpha 1 acid glycoprotein (AGP). Additionally, in the African research sites, a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for malaria will be administered upon admission to the birthing facility, and at 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), The World Health Organization Quality-of-Life (QOL) scale, The Maternal Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS-5R), and The Mother-to-infant Bonding Scale (MIBS) will also be used at the 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum follow up appointments to collect data for secondary study aims.The study hypothesizes that at 6 weeks post-delivery, the prevalence of the non-anemic state in women in that received a single-dose IV iron infusion between 6 and 48 hours after delivery and prior to discharge from the facility will be greater than that of women given a supply of oral iron tablets taken twice daily for 6 weeks. Secondary study aims will look at the effects of postpartum depression on maternal quality of life, fatigue, and breastfeeding initiation and retention rates. Depression is also a risk factor for reducing infant-mother bonding.

The PRIORITY RCT will include an implementation research (IR) sub-study to complement the findings of the RCT trial and provide evidence about facilitators, barriers, and costs of implementation to inform global guidelines on the use of IV iron in postpartum women in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMIC). This Implementation Research (IR) sub-study will build upon the PRIORITY trial as well as other research projects to assess IV iron that are being conducted by the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College research team in Belagavi, India, Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) and by the Aga Khan University team in Pakistan. The IR will utilize a mixed methods approach, employing both quantitative and qualitative data collection to better understand the potential barriers and facilitators to IV iron use in India and Pakistan. The implementation research will be harmonized with the timeline of the main PRIORITY trial, enabling the investigators to collect the IR data in parallel with the trial. The mixed methods IR study for the PRIORITY trial in India and Pakistan will be guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and by Proctor's implementation outcomes framework. CFIR and Proctor's framework are complementary and provide a structure for guiding the types of questions and target groups for the implementation research data collection during the trial.