Low iron levels...

[twiglet2]

Just had my 31 week midwife appointment, and after having bloods taken at the last appointment, and phoning the doctors and being told all was fine, they gave me the wrong information and my iron levels are low and I need to take tablets. Not a big deal really, but annoying that they gave me the wrong result.

Just wondered if anyone has any tips on how to get my iron levels up? I have a pretty healthy diet, lots of fruit, veg, beans etc. but not a huge amount of meat (maybe once or twice a week). The midwife suggested Floradix, I know spinach is high in iron and I eat this regularly, and I could eat more red meat. Anything else?

Hi twiglet,

Sounds like you're already doing a lot of the right things. Eggs and fish with a darker flesh like tuna and salmon are also a reasonable source of iron. Avoiding tea and coffee (whether normal or decaf) an hour either side of mealtimes can also help your body take up more iron.

Thanks bakingmad. I went off fish in the first trimester and haven't really fancied it much since, so maybe I need to make more of an effort to eat it once a week. Hadn't thought of eggs - hard boiled for lunch would work. Just bought a big bottle of floradix and I'll pick up my iron tablets tomorrow. I don't drink coffee or tea (I'm stupidly sensitive to caffeine) so thats not a problem but I want to try and have a home birth, and my midwife made it clear I need to get my iron levels up in order to be able to give this a try, so fingers crossed.

I've been told to watch my diet for the next few weeks before another blood test at 34 weeks, due to the rate at which my iron levels have dropped.

Reading I've done suggests that a glass of orange juice with food can help your body to absorb more iron, so I've switched the cup of tea I normally have with cereal, I tended to eat cereals with a good iron content anyway.

I also noticed that some nuts, seeds and dried fruit have quite high iron content, so have switched those for the snacks I'd usually have during the day and have added them to flapjacks too . I found veggie & vegan websites were good for identifying non red meat sources, although DH is very pleased to see I'm buying more steak too!

thanks for the tip with the nuts, seeds, dried fruit and OJ, I'll give all of those a go :)

I was told the same at my 31 week appt and now desperately trying to get my iron levels up so they'll still let me have the baby at the midwife led unit rather than labour ward. On top of the things already said, the midwife recommended spinach and watercress but avoid cooking them or cook them for as minimal a time as possible as uncooked has a lot higher nutrient content. Also,she recommended dried apricots which are easy to snack on so I've been having some every day.

Right, off to buy a big bag of dried apricots tomorrow...