Hi Sisterhood,
I just went for my 34 week antenatal appointment and have been advised my red cell blood count has dropped from 170 to 107 in 5 months and that I need to take iron supplements or change my diet due to I may excessively bleed when I go into labour? I can't take multivitamins due to them making me very sick regardless of the brand etc I spew every time I have them so that's out of the question, I am going to try take iron supplements though that have vitamin c and see how I go with taking them. Can anyone suggest foods etc that I can have to build up my system as well? I am 21 years old, FTM, 157cm tall, my pregnancy start weight was 48kg and I am 60kg at this current moment, the hospital and my midwife say I am very healthy as I don't eat shitty food and I do live a very active and healthy life style. I just need to boost my red blood count, any advice please ladies :) xx FTM
3 Replies
Have you tried taking just an iron tablet instead of a multivitamin?
I was in a very similar situation when I was pregnant, and multivitamin made me horribly ill, but the iron on its own was fine.
If that's not an option, just Google up some food rich in iron (dark, leafy green vegetables, lentils, mushrooms, red meats, etc) and alter your diet appropriately.
Also, vitamin C helps your body absorb the iron better.
Go to the pharmacy and get ferro-grad c. These contain 105mg iron compared to Normal iron tablets 5mg iron. Theyre with vitamin c. Take them in the morning with orange juice. It's really important to get your iron up. Also eat dark leafy greens like spinach and red meat.
Exactly