Breymann 2000.

Methods	Single‐centre, randomised, controlled trial, conducted in Switzerland. ITT analysis. Follow‐up was 14 days.
Participants	60 anaemic puerperal women (socioeconomic conditions not described) randomised into 3 groups of 20. No women dropped out. Inclusion criteria: postpartum Hb < 100 g/L 24 to 72 hours postpartum. Exclusion criteria: anaemia during pregnancy peripartum blood transfusion, anaemia from causes other than blood loss, history of thromboembolism, signs of infection, history of seizures, alcohol and/or drug abuse, renal or hepatic dysfunction, previous myelosuppressive medication, haemosiderosis, history of iron intolerance, and rheumatoid polyarthritis.
Interventions	Intervention referred to rhEPO (group 1). Group 1: IV rhEPO (Eprex®) 300 U/kg daily for 4 days + IV iron sucrose (Venofer®) 200 mg daily for 2 days, followed by oral treatment: tablet (Gynotardiferon ®, Robapharm) containing 80 mg elemental iron and folic acid 0.35 mg daily for 10 days. Total rhEPO dose depended on weight, 84,000 U for a person weighing 70 kg. Total elemental iron dose was 1200 mg. Group 2: IV rhEPO placebo (identical administration of physiological saline) + IV Iron sucrose (Venofer®) 200 mg daily for 2 days, followed by oral treatment: tablet iron sulphate (Gynotardiferon ®, Robapharm) containing 80 mg elemental iron and folic acid 0.35 mg daily for 10 days on an empty stomach. Total elemental iron dose was 1200 mg. Group 3: oral iron sulphate (Gynotardiferon ®, Robapharm) containing 80 mg elemental iron and folic acid 0.35 mg daily for 14 days. Total elemental iron dose was 1120 mg.
Outcomes	No preplanned outcome measures. Incidence and severity of serious or unusual adverse events were recorded. Information on maternal mortality was extrapolated from the numbers of blood tests.
Notes	Financial support from the University of Zurich. Authors did not provide additional information on request.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No method described.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Sealed envelopes.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Low risk for groups 1 and 2 (EPO and placebo), where the patients appear to have been blinded to what drug they received, but high in oral group. High risk for subjective outcomes such as adverse events.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Oral group was not blinded. High risk for most outcomes.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No dropouts. However, the number of screened and excluded patients prior to randomisation was not reported.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	No preplanned outcome measures mentioned. Data on adverse events were not group specific.
Other bias	Low risk	None known.