I can only speak about my own pregnancy but I had consistently "normal" hb but low serum ferritin levels. The care I was given was to keep an eye on my dietary iron intake and monitor my hb to make sure it stayed up then to recheck sometime before my next pregnancy to see if I was always that way. Both levels remained consistent from the time this was first noticed, no more action was taken (than eating iron rich foods) and i did end up getting the retest a year or more post natally and my ferritin was "normal" so the low levels were presumably pregnancy related.
I think supplements may have been suggested as an option if I felt like it but not pushed as "necessary" unless the situation changed... cheers Jo At 8:13 PM +0800 22/9/04, Mary Murphy wrote: >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 ><http://www.ironpanel.com.au>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? -- Jo Bourne Virtual Artists Pty Ltd -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
