Anemia can influence your future child
During the pregnancy I got a huge problem – anemia. And I want to tell about it.
Anemia happens when your blood doesn’t have enough hemoglobin. Hemoglobin helps red blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body.
There are many types of anemia, but I got an iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Iron deficiency anemia happens when there is not enough iron in body. Probably I got IDA because my diet didn’t have enough iron in it. Pregnancy usually can cause iron deficiency anemia if there’s not enough iron for the mother and fetus. Sometimes this can happen when woman loses blood from problems like heavy periods, ulcers, colon polyps, or colon cancer.
The signs of anemia can be weakness, fatigue, low body, temperature, irritability, pale skin, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, numbness or coldness chest pain, dizziness and headache.
Anemia is diagnosed by a blood test. The treatment for anemia depends on the cause of the anemia.
To prevent (treat) anemia I tried to eat food high in iron like red meat, fish, chicken liver or eggs, dried fruits, like apricots, prunes, and raisins lentils and green beans, leafy vegetables, like spinach and broccoli, or cereal with iron in it (iron-fortified).
You can also get iron from food like ground beef, clams, spinach, lentils, baked potato with skin, sunflower seeds, and cashews.
I can say that I ate all kind of these products, but it helped me just a little bit.
For more sources of iron, I tried to eat and drink food that helped my body absorb iron, like orange juice, strawberries, broccoli, or other fruits and vegetables with vitamin C. I tried not to drink coffee or tea with meals. It was really hard for me!!! These drinks make it harder for body to absorb iron. Calcium can hurt absorption of iron also.
I can say that if you have a hard time getting enough iron, make sure you get enough folic acid and vitamin B-12 in your diet!!!
Talk to your doctor about taking iron pills (supplements). But you should know that taking iron pills can cause side effects, like nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. I got nausea. It was really unpleasant. And I even didn’t know that it was because of iron pills. I thought it was because hormones of pregnancy. But then I changed my pills for another kind and everything is fine now!!!
Only taking iron pills together with folic acid and water with lemon juice helped me. And of course fresh air!
Not getting enough iron can cause preterm labor and delivering a low-birth weight baby. So if you’re pregnant make sure you get 27mg of iron every day and take an iron supplement (pill). It may be part of prenatal vitamin, get tested for anemia.
For vegetarian woman.
It is easier to get iron from meat than from plant-derived foods. So some vegetarians may need to take a higher amount of iron each day than what is recommended for other people. Try to take vitamin C with other iron-rich foods.
Avoid iron overload
Iron overload happens when the body absorbs too much iron over many years. Excess iron builds up in organs, like the heart and liver. Many problems can cause iron overload. It can happen from years of taking too much iron or from repeated blood transfusions. But the most common form of iron overload is an inherited condition (runs in families) called hereditary.