low haemoglobin levels i am 31 weeks pregnant

[tinkisexcitedabouthavingababy]

had 31 week midwife appointment this afternoon all great.
blood results show haemoglobin as 10.5 midwife said still in normal range need to concentrate on eating greens.
also cant give birth in birthing centre if 10 or below.
i am taking santagen pronatal whch has 100% of rda of iron in
not so good on the veg front going to eat more greens.
didnt mention about having anymore blood tests
next time i see her i will be 36 weeks

Vegetables are really going to contribute much to iron stores - i'm a veggie by the way.
Do you eat meat? Have you tried SPATONE?

dont eat much meat and only each broccili head. no havent tried spatone.
midwife mentioned about possibly having iron supplements later on

Sorry meant to say AREN'T REALLY going to contribute. I would start iron supplements now

i mentioned that i was taking sanatgon pronatal include all vitamins and 100% rda of iron

Then you need to have your iron stores reassessed at 36 weeks. I wouldn't fancy going into labour with anaemia .I am suprised they said 10.5 was still in the nomral range although it does vary form hospital to hospital.

I was told my level of 9.6 was normal, no mention of not being able to give birth in the birthing centre, i'll have to check this at Guy's where i'm based! Also have to increase my iron intake - i'm 32+6 today.

9.6 is not normal - but they may mean it's no unusual for pregnancy. Typical range is 11-13 for women but depends on your hospital.

9.6 is low. Remember that vitamin C aids the absorption of iron - so take iron supplements/spatone/floradix with fresh orange juice. Milk, tea coffee hinder then absorption of iron.

i drink tons of ribena

tink - have you seen www.midwifery.org.uk/anaemia.htm this page on the UK midwifery site? Mary Cronk's comment (the 2nd reply down) is very pithy and to the point. This page from the homebirth website may also be useful.

If you do your own reading and don't feel there is a problem, you might want to consider telling your midwives that you are not intentding to go to hospital and so, if they "won't let you" give birth in the birthing centre they'll be supporting you at home instead... They don't need to know whether or not you'd actually plan a home birth, after all

Chuck the spatone in the ribena Spatone is much more pleasant to take than ferous sulphate, which is what they'll likely prescribe you if they think you're still anaemic, so I'd start on it now. Spatone (or Floradix) are both much more absorbable and don't give you all the gastric side-effects that make ferous sulphate so unpleasant (nausea, constipation...). It's pretty hard to overdose on iron as well - what your body doesn't absorb you'll just excrete, so no real risks from that side.

Fingers crossed you can get your levels up and avoid the problem, but do your own research as Hb levels in pregnant women does seem to be an area where there's a lot of confusion among health professionals.

Tangle's links are excellent. Tempted to grrrr.... but instead will attempt to be useful.

10.5 is not anaemia, it is normal pregancy haemodilution. Even the NICE guidlines state:

"Pregnant women should be offered screening for anaemia. Screening should take place early in
pregnancy (at the booking appointment) and at 28 weeks when other blood screening tests are
being performed. This allows enough time for treatment if anaemia is detected. [B]
Haemoglobin levels outside the normal UK range for pregnancy (that is, 11 g/100 ml at first
contact and 10.5 g/100 ml at 28 weeks) should be investigated and iron supplementation.
considered if indicated. [A]"

Worth mentioning to the midwives. they don't always keep up to date with these things.

here is the link

Just a thought - had a similair issue to you at around 30 weeks and was taking my pronatal supplements or something similair. All I did was make sure I didn't drink tea/coffee within a couple of hours of taking the tablet, and stopped washing it down with milk. My HB level had gone up by 36 weeks.

If you are using green veg to boost your intake then eat/drink something high in vit C at the same time but truly your supplement should be enough. Your body will not absorb more than it needs, no matter what supplements you take. So unless they think there is an underlying cause such as pernicious anaemia, I fail to see what difference pumping more iron supplements into you will make.

cheers that is all very helpful especially links