im anemic???

[mom2ariana]

so i had my glucose screen today, and i passed the diabetes part, but they said im mildy anemic and i need to start taking iron supplements. i dont really understand how im anemic, because i take my prenatal vitamin everyday (i think ive only missed it twice), and i eat lots of whole grain and whole wheat bread and pasta, eggs, rice, etc... but anyways i read online that it is linked to a higher risk of stillbirth and infant death. does that mean only if you don't treat it? anyone else have this and not have any problems after taking supplements? im already scared of infant death or stillbirth, so this doesn't help. thanks!!

[Sunkissed19]

ive been mildly anemic for most of my life and when i got pregnant i just became even more anemic so i have to take my prenatals and an extra iron supplement plus another one on top of that (so two iron pills) and if my levels dont go up by my next appointment im going to have to get iron sessions through an iv. i have been eating a ton of iron enriched foods and taking my vitamins and iron pills everyday but im still anemic...and the baby is perfectly healthy! its not anything to be very worried about...a TON of women are anemic during their pregnancys and i havent heard of a single baby coming out having problems because of it. i was really tired all the time before i found out how anemic i was during pregnancy and then when i started taking the iron supplements my energy level shot way up! it was great!

[faye83]

I agree with rebekah, only in reaaally extreme cases would your baby be in danger to die, but that'd mean even you would be in danger. When you are anemic it is not that the baby is anemic too, since the baby takes all the iron she/he can get from you, it is only YOU the one with anemia. It is pretty common to have it. Even if you were not anemic before, if the baby takes more iron from you than you are getting, you'll become anemic. I always eat a lot of wheat bread, eggs, meat, greens etc but I still ended up with some anemia. Just take the iron pills (I know they taste nasty) and you'll be fine. Generally the only problem you'll see of being anemic at the moment of giving birth is that you can lose blood faster. Don't worry about the baby though, he/she will be ok

[rebekah385]

I have been anemic with 2 out of 3 of my pregnancies, they had me take iron supplements and everything was fine. usually even if untreated there are no major side effects just in extreme cases. you and the baby should be fine, i took my prenatals and still needed iron, i think a lot of times the prenatals alone are not enough iron! Good luck and have a healthy pregnancy!

[Grandmatobe]

Anemia isn't uncommon during pregnancy.  The baby is taking a lot from your body.  Back in my day, we always took iron pills along with the prenatals.  Not sure if the prenatals have more iron these days then they did 20+ years ago, but I know that both of my daughters were anemic through their two pregnancies and had to supplement as well.