It wasn't a surprise to me when the midwife told me I was severely Anaemic at the beginning of my pregnancy. 12 months earlier I had a lucky escape when I was admitted to hospital and given 4 blood transfusions. Anaemia tends to be asymptomatic usually characterised by feeling tired and faint. It had gotten to the point I was unable to walk 3 steps without almost blacking out, my heart pounding so loud in my ears I struggled to hear anything around me. Despite this I had managed to get it back under control with 3 iron replacement tablets a day (Ferrous Fumarate) which play havoc with your intestines but I never felt more alive.
Signs of being Anaemic:
- Breathlessness
- Heart Palpitations
- Tiredness
- Grey/Pale Skin and Eyes
- Cracked Tongue and Metallic Taste in Mouth
Many pregnant women don't know they're Anaemic as exhaustion and breathlessness are part and parcel of being an expecting mum. Anaemia is a condition which sees haemoglobin production at a low and without red blood cells oxygen is unable to be carried to your organs... and your baby. The baby will always take what he needs so it is more you that will suffer than your baby but at a time when he is building his own blood supply it is important to know your iron levels are at an optimum level to help him do this effectively. Your body makes more blood during pregnancy anyway so it is hard to feel any symptoms and if you've been anaemic before like me this makes you feel perfectly fine. The nurses look perplexed when I tell them I feel healthy when they can see from my blood results by rights I shouldn't.
Its very rare your baby should experience any complications especially when its managed but Severe Anaemia can increase the risk of:
- Low Birth weight
- Premature Labour
- Baby being born iron deficient
- Infection development during pregnancy.
I don't want to scare anyone because this is very rare. To put your mind at rest I am severely anaemic with a baby who's current weight is far from low, developed no infections and at 38 weeks pregnant I have not had a premature baby. As for him being born iron deficient, I wont know until he is born but this is very unlikely. Like I said, its the mum who will most likely feel poorly from Anaemia not the baby. The last thing you want is to experience Anaemia exhaustion along with pregnancy strain.
In most cases Anaemia is caused by Iron deficiency and will be treated by either Iron replacement tablets or an increase of red meat and iron rich food such as spinach in your diet. However, Other causes of Anaemia include:
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Folic Acid deficiency
- Sickle Cell Anaemia
- Gastrointestinal Bleeding
Its important to keep taking the pregnancy vitamins right until the end of pregnancy to combat any form of vitamin deficiency. They've never found a cause for my Anaemia but the pregnancy vitamins have definitely made a difference.
Also a change in diet to include iron rich foods or taking iron supplements will usually make a world of difference but if, like me, you find yourself having severe Anaemia you will more than likely be offered an Iron IVI drip as an outpatient. I had one last Tuesday and it only takes 15 minutes. I requested this as I was worried about needing a blood transfusion again due to blood loss after birth and having to stay in hospital longer than necessary so you are within your rights to ask for this.
In extreme cases a blood transfusion as an inpatient will be required but again this will be unlikely - Anaemia is so common in pregnancy that its something that midwives will continually monitor with blood tests so it will be very unlikely get to this point.....I shouldn't say this but if you end up needing a blood transfusion you will feel incredible during the first bag of blood because you will have felt so poorly. I have never ever felt better and more alive than when I was having that first transfusion and the effects last....so it isn't all doom and gloom.
The main point of all this is Anaemia is never a barrel of laughs, especially during pregnancy when you want to be feeling your best but there are a lot of treatment options out there so its not the end of the world. Eating more meat and veg and sticking to your bi-weekly blood tests will make it bare-able. I promise :)
sources:
- http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Anaemia-In-Pregnancy.htm
- http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a3073/anaemia-iron-deficiency
- http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/anaemiapregnancy.htm
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