Re: [ozmidwifery] measuring Hb during pregnancy

[Mary Murphy]

Andrea wrote:"... there is a widespread belief that this test (hb) can effectively detect anaemia and iron deficiency." The latest measure seems to be Ferritin and according to www.ironpanel.com.au  this measures the iron stores in the marrow. Ironpanel says that "ferritin < 15 means that a person usually has no sustainable iron left in the bone marrow"  My experience has been that pregnant women have reasonable Hbs (110) with ferritins of 5.  They are usually well and energetic, but because of the low ferritin are being supplemented quite heavily.  Comments please?