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

The measurement you really need to watch is the MCV under 80 is a sign that you are genuinely anaemic, not just experiencing normal haemodilution of pregnancy. there's a very good reason for an apparently lower hb in pregnancy, you have an increase in the plasma part of your blood which helps the transfer of oxygen and nutrients to the baby, if your hb remains high you are more at risk of your baby being growth retarded, because it slows the transfer of nutrients, one of the reasons for smoker's babies being likely to be smaller, they have a higher than usual hb to counteract the carbon monoxide they are taking in. the link I gave earlier explains the wy it happens pretty well.
also, you are not more likely to bleed with a low hb - that why your platelets go up, to aid clotting, it's possible that if you bleed , you may become anaemic, and in that case, double spatone or floradix is a good idea

Haemoglobin is a protein containing iron which transports oxygen around the body. A measurement of 11.3 doesn't tell you if you're iron deficient or not - there are lots of reasons to be anaemic. If you have been advised to take iron tablets, I assume the midwife has looked at the other results and made that decision. A platelet count of 255 is absolutely fine and well within expectations. Have a proper chat to the doctor and they'll let you know what is going on. Don't worry!

Can I recommend Spatone for added iron? It's basically naturally fortified water which you take in orange juice to make it taste ok and as vit c increases iron absorption. No nasty constipation issues and it's on 3 for 2 in boots

Here's an interesting bit:Should you take iron supplements?

At 11weeks I am having a serious conflict about what to do about iron supplementation, I have read in most places that no matter how much iron you get in your diet, as a pregnant woman you will be incapable of maintaining "normal" iron levels without supplementation.

Hello......isn't our body trying to tell us something, like maybe we are not supposed to have high levels of iron?

Sheila Kitzinger in "THE COMPLETE BOOK OF PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH" explains that if you did not start out anemic, then iron supplementation is not necessary for the normal drop in hemoglobin from mid-pregnancy. This reduced hemoglobin is a sign that plasma volume is rising and that the placenta is providing good nutrition for the baby." In a different chapter she explains" A pregnant woman has about 40% more blood flowing in her body. It used to be thought that a woman's hemoglobin levels must be kept high during pregnancy by iron supplementation. But most women whose hemoglobin concentration does fall are more likely to go full term and have babies of good birth weight. If hemoglobin concentrations fail to fall there is a marked increase of the incidence of low birth eight and preterm labor." She quotes two medical studies to back this up. The babies are probably LBW and preterm because the placenta wasn't nourishing the baby properly so therefore hemoglobin levels did not drop.
OP, your midwife is talking pants, or following a protocol which is pants

Can someone tell me why under parity I have 2+1 but under Gravida I have a 4?

(have 2 DCs and 1mc)?

The 2 means 2 live births, the +1 is your current pregnancy and G4 means it's your 4th pregnancy, so so para 2+1 gravida 4 tells the midwife you've got two kids living , lost one and are pregnant at this moment

hangon -brain fog 2+1 is the number of previous biths so 2 +1 is 2 surviving out of 3 sorry,

Floradix (fruit and vegetable extract Iron supplement) is nice and doesn't make you so constipated. See if the Docs will let you take that?

thanks for clearing that up

thats very interesting jamila169 i may take that up with doc tomorrow.

thanks for all advice everyone xx

Your platelet range should normally be between 150-450 so you're bang in the middle.

after all the talk of the tablet strength i checked mine and they are 300mg so i am on 600mg of iron a day!!

Something really doesnt seem right

That's a lot of iron.
I take one a day and I have very low ferritin levels- which means my body does not retain iron very well, so I take an iron supplements every day even when I'm not pregnant.

With your levels, I would check with GP but floradix would be a much more pleasant option on your system.