Anaemic and struggling after labour

[NewmumNov2018]

Has anyone else had anaemia after labour. I lost a lot of blood during labour and subsequently was prescribed iron tablets for anaemia. Since labour I’ve really struggled: insomnia, very anxious, although settling down now (6 days since birth), absolutely wiped out, nausea (upsetting as nauseous throughout pregnancy), breathless.

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you cope and how long until it gets better (how long is a piece of string - guess everyone different and one person might recover quicker than another.

So hormonal and struggling so any tips will help.

Midwife here. Blood loss affects people differently. Some feel worse than others.
Classic symptoms are
: feeling faint on standing
: fast pulse
: Breathlessness when active.
: feeling weak and weird generally, sometimes weepy.

Have you been started on iron therapy? That will help your body make new cells. It takes about two weeks for the first new cells to start making a noticeable improvement. You need to rest as much as possible until you feel better. Eat and drink as well as you can.

If the symptoms above are still a problem tomorrow, phone your maternity unit and asked to be reviewed by a doctor. You might need more active treatment such as an iron infusion or possibly a blood transfusion.

Oh yes I had post partum anaemia and I remember how bad I felt in the first week or so. I think I felt a bit better after a fortnight but to be honest it was a few months before l felt normal again. And I ended up on iron tablets for about 5 months.

How long a course of tablets have you been given? If you still feel anaemic when you've finished the course make sure you go back to the GP because you might need more. I found that l was really thirsty when I was anaemic and that keeping hydrated helped me feel better.

Thanks very much for your response. I have all the symptoms you’ve mentioned. I think things are slowly improving, it’s the chronic anxiety which I’m really struggling with as it prevents me from sleeping but fingers crossed I think that’s slowly improving too.

I’ve been given iron tablets.

It feels all very scary with feeling so wiped out and looking after a newborn on top of that but hopefully things are on the way up!

Hey,

Thanks for replying!

I was prescribed two weeks worth but going to get another prescription.

I’m feeling really thirsty and sick too!

Xxxx

I felt horrific with this. I was borderline for a
transfusion and wish I’d done that. Tablets take about 3 months to have an effect. That is how long it takes your body to make new red blood cells.

The next time I had a transfusion and it was much better. Is that an option?

The way you are feeling sounds like a candidate for transfusion. I would return to the maternity unit and ask for a medical review.

Thanks, I’m going to get my bloods done again and see what they say.

Take llysene and vit c with iron tablets x