can someone please translate this for me............

[iliketosleep]

I have had my routine bloods throughout pregnancy and have been lacking in iron which is no surprise.

The ones I had a few weeks back showed my levels to be 10.5

I have been taking 2 iron tablets (ferrous glucate??) a day.

I had more bloods on monday and have just phoned for results.

She said I am anaemic and need to make an appointment with the doctor.

I asked what my levels were and she said:

Full blood count

Haemaglobin 11.3

Platlets 255

I dont know what this means but does it sound strange??

I thought 11.3 was a big improvement to 10.5

Sorry for my shocking spelling, thanks for reading xx

I thought anything above 10 was okay??

Im not sure

Is haemaglobin level the same as iron level or is that a different thing.

Also whats worrying me is that i have been taking these tablets religiously so why havent they done anything and where do i go from here? I dont want to take more as the ones i take already make me constipated

Oh heck, I am thinking of iron levels. Sorry.

so are haemaglobin or platlets nothing to do with my iron levels?

if your haemoglobin is low you need more iron to increase it

but 11.5 isn't particularly low, you're not worryingly anaemic

fear not

I am confused now. I had better let someone better qualified help.

11.5 is fine

11.3 is an improvement on 10.3, it shows the iron tablets have been working.

How do you feel? If you still feel tired/washed out -if you still have symptoms of anemia - I would carry on taking the iron but I would ask advice on how much iron to take or maybe just take it in a different form.

I don't know the significance of the platelet result.

This is the way they measure your Iron Levels.
I believe an Hb of 12-16 is an acceptable range for a Female,and Platelets should be
150-400.

Your results are still on the low side but improving. I would imagine( not a midwife
that it is wiser to get your levels up a little higher to prepare for "all eventualities".

I had Iron Tablets during my first and second pregnancy.With my first I haemorrhaged after my Forceps delivery and my Hb went down to 7.0. I couldnt stand or walk after for a day or two,I was constantly dizzy especially whilst BF'ing as you tend to lose more blood vaginally (tmi?) whilst you feed. My Consultant didnt want me to have a Transfusion,so I had to take Triple the dose of iron tablets.

It would be better to have "normal " iron levels before delivery,to "try" and prevent it dropping too low after.

My MW suggested taking the Iron Tablets every other day,so I could try and avoid getting Constipated,not recommended after having stitches etc. Ouch!!!

You could ask if you can do that,it did help me.

Well when i phoned up first time, she just said "oh 10.5 thats low, theres a prescription for tablets waiting for you"

this time she said "oh your anaemic you need to come and talk to the doctor about it"

I feel absolutly fine, not tired at all except for bedtime then im out like a light and dp looks like this

Oh yes sorry I forgot,Platelets are essential to stop Bleeding and Bruising.
So again,pretty important to have fairly normal levels of these too before Delivery.HTH

do the tablets affect them too then? sorry i am completely clueless

iliketosleep - remember that vitamin C aids iron aborption but milk hinders it. So don't take the iron tablets with milK.

Sawyer - I also lost a lot of blood during the birth - and this is why I also think it's important to keep an eye on iron levels during pregnancy.

Like you I felt dreadful after the birth and my hb was 8 - but no one had checked it during prengnacy so I don't know if it had been low during pregnancy or not.

iliketosleep - if they've asked you to speak to the doctor about that, I would do so.

I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon.

I actually take my tablets with my first cup of tea of the day so that probably explains alot!!

Tea hinders iron absorption too

Take it with orange juice

High platelet count is very common in pregnancy... I got my results the other day and the receptionist had NO IDEA what this meant, but "speculated" that he thought it had something to do with CANCER.... can you believe that?????????? I was shaking all over until the dr called me back 10 minutes later and said, you're anaemic and platelet levels are naturally high during pregnancy.

star6 - what a stupid thing for a receptionist to say. I would complain. It's not their job to interpret results.

I was on 3 iron tabs a day from 6m with both of my babies. But then I've been prone to anaemia all my adult life so was expecting it.
Orange juice with meals to help absorption of any iron in the meal.
No cup of tea/coffee an hour either side of a meal as it hinders iron absorption.
No soya milk as this just DESTROYS iron in your system (found that out after drinking buckets of it every day up to 6m with ds2)
The darker green the veg, the more iron, ie spinach, dark cabbage, sprouts etc.
Sesame seeds are full of iron you can sprinkle them on cereal or mix in yoghurt (yes I know thats mixing with milk but its better to add them to the yoghurt than not at all).
Dried apricots full of iron

AND

best news of all

Dark chocolate is full of iron. The darker the better, so Green and Blacks or the CO-op fair trade dark choc are the best and the most deeeeeelicious.

11.5 is not too bad, but they count anything under 12 as aneamic.

Mine was 7.2 whilst pregnant with DSeven when I wa taking the maximum dose iron tablets 3 times a day.

Bear in mind that the receptionist giving you your results over the phone won't know your history - it will just say on the result 'low - see GP' or something similar.

11.3 up from 10.5 means that your iron tablets are having an effect. Depending on your GP they may be happy with anything over 11, others prefer Hb to be over 12. If you are planning a homebirth then I believe they like the Hb that little bit higher.

Tea will hinder absorption of the iron, orange juice (or any other citrus juice) will aid it!

My levels were 11.1 and they didn't seem bothered at all. I'm not sure if they get stricter as the pregnancy progresses though.

during pregnancy your hb levels should be lower, something called haemodilution takes place, your blood becomes more dilute to help oxygen cross thr placenta - it's speculated on pretty good evidence that 9.5 - 10.5 is the best range to be in, see here

Sawyer - I had a v similar experience to yours with my DS, but with a delightful transfusion at the end of it . I still wish I hadn't had it now, even though I didn't feel there was much choice at the time.

Iron tablets during pg made me so constipated that I ended up in hospital!!!

After DS's birth, the midwife recommended Floradix liquid iron supplement, so it might be worth finding out if it's suitable for use during pregnancy. It even tastes quite nice (unlike Lactulose - I still shudder at the memory)! It's quite expensive, but it did increase my iron levels effectively. Good luck!

Try boosting your Iron naturally with your diet.
I was advised to eat any dried fruit particularly Apricots.

Green leafy Vegetables especially Broccoli(Spinach is a fallacy,no higher than any other dark green leafy veg)

I also drank Sanatogen Wine,which I developed quite a taste for,not realising it was alcoholic,I used to have a glass of that in the evenings,and was so dizzy and lightheaded whilst feeding,looking back now I'm not surprised LOL!!

I'm sure theres other things that are rich in Iron,just can't think of any atthe moment.
I did read o another thread theres Iron supplements in liqued form that don't constipate you.I'm sure someone will enlighten you with a name.