Low Iron (31 weeks) - Supplements

[sociallydistained]

I happened to have my 28 week appointment and my 31 week during the same week last week due to switching over to the homebirth team and them being very prompt and my old midwife being late. Anyway, I had bloods on the Monday but when I met my homebirth midwife on the Wednesday she said these couldn’t be processed due to incorrect nhs number and she had to do them again. She did have the info from them though and told me my iron stores were getting a bit low but my available iron was high ?… no idea what this means. She said I wouldn’t need supplements but if I had a multivitamin etc to take it I said I had been taking pregnancy vitamins but stopped recently due to headaches. I said I had an iron liquid I would happily start taking again though which I have and I have no issues with this.

Today a week later i received a text from from my surgery saying blood test shows my iron levels are low and they will be doing a prescription for iron supplements. So I guess I do need them! My worry is I’ve heard they’re quite hardcore and cause constipation which I had in the first trimester and do not wish to repeat!! Has anyone else needed to take them? And how have you got on? I’m wondering if I should just stick to my iron liquid and hope for the best at the next bloods 😬

I had the tablets and they did not agree with me at all. I ended up having an iron transfusion as my stores were empty! If you are getting on with the liquid I’d stick with it! I made my midwife/GP aware that I wouldn’t take the tablets because i couldn’t stand the interruption to my toilet habits! 🙈

I'm anemic and won't take a blood transfusion so really important I have my iron levels as high as possible.

I take ferrous sulphate 200mg twice a day and haven't had any constipation in this pregnancy or my previous one. In my last pregnancy I took iron in liquid form but that wasn't upping my iron levels quickly enough so had to move onto the tablets. I was frequently warned about the constipation that came along with the tablets but I was lucky enough to never experience it!

You can take them on alternating days to start with to get used to it. They should also be taken on an empty stomach with vitamin C, and not with caffeine or dairy products. This enhances the absorption. I also had to start them around 28 weeks so I would wake up and drink a glass of lemon juice and water and take the tablets (orange juice is better but I had gestational diabetes too). Then I'd wait 30mins and make breakfast which was usually scrambled eggs without milk or butter.

I was horrendously constipated all during pregnancy so I couldn't really tell if the tablets made a difference. Things only really got better after birth. However I also found that they didn't make a huge difference to my iron levels, they just prevented them from dropping further but still stayed at a very low level. Things only went back to normal 6-8 weeks after birth. I was still taking the tablets during that time but I honestly don't know if the anemia was just from pregnancy and my iron level would have normalised anyway (I never had any iron issues when not pregnant).

Thank you for the advice.

I’m wondering when to take them cause I need my morning dairy and caffeine. I suppose I could just do at night.

Think about your diet too, brocolli, spinach, lentils, dried apricots, eggs and taking with vitamin C,
Also increase your fibre intake to combat constipation, dates, prunes, raspberries, apples and pears

I was anaemic post-partum and the iron tablets definitely made me constipated. Kiwi fruit really helped with that though! Also vitamin c is needed to absorb the iron efficiently.

@Ameteurmum

I had the tablets and they did not agree with me at all. I ended up having an iron transfusion as my stores were empty! If you are getting on with the liquid I’d stick with it! I made my midwife/GP aware that I wouldn’t take the tablets because i couldn’t stand the interruption to my toilet habits! 🙈

Same !

I am on them - Ferrous Sulphate 200mg every other day. My midwife told me that most pregnant women end up on them now, and apparently this is a very recent thing, as they have discovered that low ferritin levels can affect the amount of blood you lose during labour. I started them around the same time as you (30 weeks ish, I'm now 36 weeks) and I was also apprehensive as I was put on Ferrous Fumarate after losing a bit of blood in my first labour, and those were horrible with regard to the constipation etc. However I can say the Ferrous Sulphate are not too bad, and I would rather take them before giving birth than after.

The only annoying thing is having to take them first thing (otherwise they give me heartburn) but not being able to eat dairy, tea, coffee, whole grains or eggs - on those days I just have a banana, and then a proper breakfast a couple of hours later.

I would try the tablets and see how you get on, as it might benefit you in labour and is probably preferable to having to go on them after you give birth, i.e. when you really don't want to be worrying about your bowels!

Thank you so much for the advice. I will give them a go then and also focus on the diet aspect. I thinking of batch cooking a tofu chickpea spinach curry this week! I will also take with vitamin C.

I’m thinking the tablets every other day to start and the liquid on the other days and see how it goes.

I don't know your nhs trust, but where I was low hb was a block to midwife led birth care and strongly advised against for home birth.

I would try the prescribed tablets. if they don't agree with you you can try other iron formulations. ask at the pharmacy.

all the best for your pregnancy & birth.

@purplesequins I am with the homebirth team
Now so all midwife appointments at home etc and she is very chilled about it all. Especially as my levels are just below so I’m hoping I can get them up with some effort. But it’s definitely not been expressed as a block to HB as of yet and I know women who have homebirthed fine whilst on the supplements.

I am anaemic. It was discovered when I was around 36 weeks pregnant. 2 weeks later I had an energency section and PPH so lower in iron than before. Anyway I have to take 3 iron tablets a day. Luckily I’ve not been constipated in fact it’s upset my stomach in the opposite way !

Check what the levels are and how 'low' they are - I took spatone instead of tablets and found them much gentler on the bowels (pregnancy already made me bunged up so I didn't want to add anything to it). It tastes unpleasant but I put it in orange juice which helps your body absorb the iron.

Please please don't take Spatone. You would need 20 sachets a day to get the same amount of iron that's in one tablet. If you need iron in pregnancy, you need proper iron tablets along with an iron rich diet. I would take at night along with a small glass of orange juice or a vit C tablet. Im a midwife in Aus and we can get a tablet here called Ferrous C....it contains iron and Vit C together and it works really well in pregnancy. I can't remember if there is a similar one in the UK but I would definitely ask the pharmacist.