Low iron and been told MUST have hospital birth

[StillPukin]

Apparently my iron levels are 10.5 (I dont know what exactly the measurement is) and I've been told that unless they rise significantly then I wont be allowed to have a home or birthing suite birth, I MUST go to the hospital.
I desperately do not want to go into the hospital unless I have to (I had my DS in hosp and it was awful, I dont want a repeat of this experience).
Has anybody had any experience of this or know why this would affect where I have my baby??

awful I meant awkward!

No you can't be made to go to hospital. You can be advised to go for safety, and honestly why would anyone ignore that?

And a midwife can refuse to come and send an ambulance instead. At which stage you either go to hospital with the ambulance or refuse treatment. Its a choice you have but I honestly think its an easy choice to make.

If I was you, I'd continue with both plans, A = homebirth, B being hospital and look at what it was/could be that needs to be different in hospital this time.

Hi OP. Do sympathise as I'm 30 weeks with DC4 and booked for a HB too, but at my 28 week appt my iron levels had also dropped to 10.5.

The cut off at my hospital is 11, but the consultant didn't say much other than to briefly mention PPH (her main concern if my levels don't improve) and prescribe iron tablets. Think she is adopting a wait and see approach. We have already clashed over me wanting a HB at my age! Apparently 42 is absolutely blinking ancient in her book!

Normally I have good iron levels but have been struggling to eat due to bad heartburn and reflux and ended up on omeprozole. As Bunbaker mentioned, antacid meds can affect iron levels, so think taking those along with not eating well the last few weeks has caused my iron level to drop. Have now ditched the antacids and am on 400mg of ferrous sulphate so hoping things will improve.

Just wondered who it was who said you'd have to go into hospital. Was it the consultant?

gemmaj66 #PPH?? #If 42 is ancient then I'm on your tail at 40, lol, although my mw did say "age is just a number" #it was my mw that said I would have to go into hospital, I havent seen a consultant #good luck with your levels too

I had similar when I was pg with ds2 OP. I can't remember what my levels were but much lower than yours (maybe as low as 6?) and I was told I needed to get them up if I wanted to have my baby at the standalone MLU. The reason I was told is that a PPH would be much more serious if your iron levels were low to start with.

I was prescribed lower dose iron tablets that I had to take 4 times a day iirc (mw recommended this as less likely to upset my stomach) and I ate steak with watercress and spinach salad washed down with OJ every night My iron levels were back up to a more sensible level in no time.

It was quite a relief as prior to this I had been having trouble walking up the stairs, needed a lie down after a shower etc. I felt tons better once I sorted it out.

A happy story for you, OP! I found out at 38 weeks that I was anaemic (blood count 6.7!!!). My midwife said that whilst no-one could stop me having a home birth, I needed to be aware of the increased risk of haemorrhage etc. I desperately wished to avoid hospital (v. traumatic labour with DS) and over the next week I took iron tablets, ate oily fish twice a day, snacked on dried apricots, ate spinach etc. by my due date I made 10.9 - and had my dream home birth :-) You sound very borderline; I am SURE you can do this!

I had a homebirth in a similar situation - low iron levels with a history of bad hospital experience (though in my case there was violence). The birth went fine though I felt unsupported all the way through and their concerns of it led to a lot of problems.

I've had a bad hospital birth because of bad midwives, an lovely homebirth because of supportive midwives, an awful dangerous homebirth because of unsupportive midwives that resulted in a hospital transfer after the birth because she was so concerned about my iron levels that she yanked on the cord until a chuck came out and I went into shock, and a wonder hospital birth with very supportive staff where I still lost quite a bit of blood but they cared and managed the problems well without making me feel worse. All of these happened in the same area, same hospital and community midwife team.

In short, as the bearer of bad news, a homebirth doesn't guarantee the supportive staff you're looking for (in my awful one, they spent most of the time chatting in the room adjacent until I was pushing, and took my DD2 away straight away because they wanted to 'deal with the placenta' and took my partner out of the room while they did so). What would be more helpful is having someone else there that can argue for you, whereever you are, to try to get the care you want. Possibly look into other hospitals if there are any that are reachable for you. You can push for whereever you feel is best, but having someone who can push for what you need when you can't is far better protection to this. I wish you all the best with this, it's a sad situation that things like this are so uncertain.

Hi stillpukin, PPH is post partum haemorrhage, but couldn't spell haemorrhage so went for the abbreviation! Yes I'm practically in my grave according to my consultant!

Just wondered if you'd been in touch with your local Supervisor of Midwives. They are generally very helpful when it comes to arranging HB or finding an alternative that suits you. One of the hospital midwives put me in touch with the Supervisor for my area and she has been really supportive. This has given me a lot more confidence with regards to questioning some of my consultant's more sweeping statements - like when she announced that I'd have to be induced as I was over 40!

Ferrous fumarate is an alternative to traditional iron tablets that can upset the tummy quite badly. It gives you exactly the same amount of iron but is much better tolerated and causes virtually no side effects (but it is expensive which is why ferrous sulphate is used in the NHS). You can ask GP to prescribe it.

It is not fair to say you have to change your birth plan on the basis on one blood test, which for many mums is low and corrects itself in about a month anyway. They should have advised on the best ways to get your iron up, and a follow-up in a while to see how it has developed.

Fingers crossed!