Anaemia third trimester

[Threebecomesfour]

Hey all - I literally just got a call from my doctor saying that I'm anaemic (I'm nearly 30 weeks), and that they're putting me on tablets.
Does anyone know if I will have to continue iron tablets post partum??

I did for a week or so but was fine after that.

I had extra iron throughout my twin pregnancy. After birth my iron was low (heavy blood loss) but still within safe limits so I continued the iron tablets until they ran out.

Thanks ladies. Did you have to stay in longer at the hospital post birth so they could monitor it? Someone said that to me today but seems a bit over the top?

I was anaemic in both pregnancies. I could stop my tablets when the babies were born and no other monitoring / increased stay was needed.
It's very common to be anaemic in pregnancy, your midwife will let you know if there's anything to worry about.

@shouldistop thank you :)

If your iron is below a certain level after birth they will keep you in, possibly offer a blood transfusion if it is extremely low.
Mine was high enough for them to release me the day after delivery, I had an elective cesarean and was discharged in less than 36 hours after arriving at hospital for surgery.

I had to stay in hospital longer after the birth because they were concerned I would need a blood transfusion because I had been anaemic before the birth and then had a mild/moderate pph. When they decided I didn't need the transfusion, they gave me more tablets and sent me on my merry way. I stopped taking them after a couple weeks because I had (and continue to have) bowel issues.

My hb after birth was 73. The 'cutoff' signalling anaemia after birth is 100. They generally like to do a blood transfusion if your hb goes below 70.

We (dd and I) stayed in hospital one night (the worst night of my life) and they tried to convince me to stay at least one more, but with the lack of overnight support I said hell no.

So it'll depend on just how anaemic you are.

Expect hb levels to go up by 1-2 a week if you take the tablets exactly as directed. Ideally, hb would be well above 105 during 3rd trimester and into labour. The closer you can get to that (or above), the less likely you will be severely anaemic after the birth.

I got anaemic in my last preg, and took the iron for a couple of weeks after birth. But now I'm preg again and it turns out I'm still borderline which is not good at the start! So obviously my iron levels never picked up properly in between and I should have supplemented for longer.
Iron tablets from the doctor may give you constipation, just a head's up! They often prescribe the cheapest nastiest form
If they have that effect on you, try iron bisglycinate instead. You can get them off Amazon for not much. Failing that there is Spatone which is even more digestible, but costs a bomb.

Thanks ladies. Great to have all this info from women who've gone through it. Husband is v excited about the idea of more steaks from now on too 🙄

Oh a good tip is not to have iron rich foods or supplements within 2 hours of calcium rich foods too.
It reduces the absorption rate.

@Chelyanne

Oh a good tip is not to have iron rich foods or supplements within 2 hours of calcium rich foods too. It reduces the absorption rate.

Agree, and vitamin C is great for iron absorption.