Mears or anyone who knows anything about Iron levels

[FoghornLeghorn]

Am 39 weeks pg and having just got back from midwife apt. have checked my notes and noticed my iron levels have not increased a great deal since my routine bloods were taken at 28 weeks and are well below the guideline for what they should be.
Midwife didn't mention anything about it but I was bombarding her with questions about sweeps etc so presume she just stuck the slip in notes and forgot to mention it.

My levels were 10.1 following my routine bloods at 28 weeks and are now 10.3 (when taken at 37 weeks), guide level is showing between 11.5 & 16.5.

What does this mean? MIL said she had to have a blood transfusion for having low iron after having BIL but that was 30 odd years ago now so presuming that's not necessarily the case.
I have been taking iron tablets since 32 weeks but they obviously aren't helping.

you will be physiologically anaemic in late pregnancy anyway...due to the increased blood volume... think 10.5 is just where they start treating aneamia......blood transfusion if you lose a lot of blood in delivery....or if you are terribly terribly anaemic i believe....

i think if it was cause for concern, you would have been told....

they levels have come up a bit not gone down more.....

Mears i am sure will correct me if i am wrong..but i don't think you will need a transfusion....x

Can't see why you'd need a transfusion. Would have thought that Midwife would pick up on it if it was serious.

my levels were 10. something allthrough pregnancy i only needed blood when they dropped to 6.something do you do extra things to help youriron levels, dark choc, red meant, green veg and the best tip is drink orange juice when taking your iron tab anddont drink tea at this time or after a meal rich in iron

If your iron levels are low, it means you can afford to lose less blood in labour etc. I don't know what counts as low, though.

Low iron also can make you low-energy after the baby is born.

That being said, I'm wondering if those guide levels are for normal (non-pregnant) people?

Ah, this page says 10 is the level at which they stop worrying, so you're above that, at least.

Foghorn, like Lulu said...also, you say that the Iron tablets obviously aren't working, but they are....because your count has gone up a bit, which is a good sign!
BTW, I used somehting that is called "Spatone" and found it worked much better, imo, and it didn't make me constipated, lol!
Also here a link that might be off interest to you !

My iron was low during pregnancy and dropped very low after having my son (it was at 7). I did not have a transfusion, just put on some iron tablets for weeks and weeks. It didnt take long to get back to normal though.

Mine were 10.0 when taken at 36 weeks so my mw put me on iron tablets. She didn't seem particularly concerned though and said it was just a precaution as this was a borderline level at my stage of pg.

My hg levels are quite often a bit low normally (quite often get rejected by the blood donor people) but I have never had any other symptoms of anaemia and don't now either.

HI! My midwife told me that they put you on tablets if your iron levels fall below 11.5. At my iron count was 10.75 and I got put on tablets, but as others had said they don't really worry about it if it is over 10. At least, that is what my midwife told me!!

HTH

it helps iron absorbtion if you take your tablets with orange juice (or some other juice)...for some reason, iron is better absorbed by our bodies if it is taken with a lot of vitamin c.

I'm a midwife foghornleghorn, and your iron level is borderline really , our hospital treats with iron when below 10.5. Obviously levels will fall following birth, depending on how heavy a blood loss you have. So you will need iron postnatally too. Definately keep taking your iron, and I agree about spatone being good. Also try and have vit c rich drinks with meal and iron tablet as all works together. Do not have tea/coffee around mealtime as this reduces absorption of iron. Its extremely common so don't worry!

I got treated at 10.2 but only because I was feeling horrible. Otherwise, my OB wouldn't have given me iron unless my hb dropped below 10...that was at 32 weeks. Its just under 11 now at 36+ weeks and I am having a planned section at exactly 38 weeks: no one seems worried about my hb levels.

My friend's hb dropped to 8.5 (which sounds pretty unpleasant to me!) after her section three weeks ago, and she wasn't given a transfusion, just iron supplements. It comes up about 1g per week, apparently, on those.

another one for spatone from large chemist or healthfood shop
it's an iron rich mineral water you add to fruit juice it boosts levels really fast, absorbs easily and does not constipate

Although you are nearly due, I had this with dd, low levels at 37 wks, got my levels up within 10 days
I've taken it this preg (am 22 wks) and my iron levels are awesome according to hospital docs...
worth doing even at this late stage.

Great, Thanks all.

I will get to the shops tomorrow for some Spatone and plenty of fresh orange juice - luckily I love the stuff anyway.

I feel absolutely fine in myself, even asked the midwife if it was really necesasary for me to take the iron tabs when i feel fine but she insisted.

i had bloods done on thursday last week. rang today for the results and was told to get up to see the doctor first thing in the morning. my levels last time were 10.1 and midwife said if they werent up to 11 she was sending me to hospital. im 37weeks. im panicking that im going to be sent to the hospital and kept in tomorrow. i was told that i may need an iron transfusion. does anyone knoe what this is and what i should expect? thanks.

my iron level dropped massively during pregnancy, i was hoping to deliver at a mw led unit and their minimum was 10. This is because of the increased risk of bleeding during delivery i think.

Anyway after taking my iron at proper times of day, not eating certain foods with other foods (something about weetabix and oj or milk cant remember) ate loads of sardines, and had spatone every day with oj (cos its disgusting) I managed to get it back up.

Good luck, 10 is not horrendously low, just eat well and get on the spatone

Mine hovered just above 10 during both pregnancies. No one seemed very concerned, although I was recommended to take supplements by one midwife. I put myself on a supplement & felt loads better for it.
I took Spatone (again with OJ because it used to make me want to barf). Have since discoverd Floradix, which is much less disgusting.