Liquid or chewable iron safe for pregnancy?

[Purpletopaz42]

I'm pregnant and my blood test results have shown that I'm anemic. I've been prescribed iron tablets but I'm really struggling to take them. I just wondered if anyone could recommend a liquid or chewable iron table that's safe for pregnancy? Thank you

My midwife recommended spatone to boost my iron levels, it's liquid in sachets, you can take two per day when pregnant. If you add it to orange or apple juice it makes it more palatable, and the vitamin C helps absorption! It worked for me, I wasn't anemic though, my iron levels were "borderline" so I didn't need iron tablets, just needed a bit of a boost. I don't think it's as effective as iron tablets but I guess that's why there are no side effects

Agree with spatone. Also eating lots of dark leafy greens and red meat. Use water you boil veg in to make soup or gravy. Avoid having anything dairy at the same time as calcium blocks iron absorption. I was borderline and midwife recommended changing what I eat as she hates giving out iron tablets. My iron levels were really good at the following appointment

Midwives sometimes recommend spatone to keep the iron levels ticking over. However, once anaemia is diagnosed, it would take an awful lot of those expensive spatone sachets to give you the same amount of iron as the GP/midwife prescribed iron tablets. I was surprised one day when I just compared the nutritional info on the back of the packet, the reason it doesn't cause much issues with bowels is that there is hardly any iron in it. Although the liquid form is supposed to absorb better, so could argue that while there is less iron in it, more is absorbed. @Purpletopaz42 there are quite a few different presribed iron tablets, in different forms, like capsulte/caplet/tablet, it might be worth asking for an alternative version of the iron by describing to the GP what type of tablets you can take, if any. Otherwise next best is very high iron rich diet with the spatone. Hope find a solution!