Ferritin estimations were performed in serum from 38 Ethiopian and 10 Swedish pregnant women and in cord blood from their newborn infants. The mean ferritin level in the Ethiopian mothers was significantly higher than in the Swedish mothers as well as in a non-pregnant population of apparently healthy Swedish women. The Ethiopian mothers consisted of two groups with different economic situations, a privileged and a non-privileged group. The non-privileged group consumed the iron-rich traditional diet unique for Ethiopia, whereas some of the privileged mothers had abandoned this menu in favour of more refined food items with a lower iron content. Subnormal ferritin levels, indicating iron depletion, were found in 33% of the privileged and in 8% of the non-privileged group, in spite of the fact that the infants of the privileged group had a significantly higher mean birth weight, indicating a better nutritional standard in general. It is concluded that the previously reported rarity of gestational anaemia in Ethiopia is due mainly to the good iron state of Ethiopian women, especially those who still eat the traditional cereal bread. no correlation was found between maternal and cord blood ferritin. The relevance of cord blood ferritin in the diagnosis of the iron state is discussed.