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Is Your Blood Healthy?

Low-iron Anemia and Pregnancy

By Sonya Weiss

Fatigue during pregnancy is not unusual for most expectant mothers, but it's also one of the many symptoms of iron-deficient anemia. According to the National Institutes of Health, half of all pregnant women are iron deficient.

Iron-deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia and occurs when a woman's iron stores have been depleted. This depletion is often caused by heavy menstrual cycles prior to pregnancy. Women with a history of fibroids are especially vulnerable to iron-deficiency anemia.

How important is iron in pregnancy? "Iron is necessary for both fetal-placental development and to expand the maternal red cell mass," says Dr. Kevin Pho, an internal medicine physician in Nashua, N.H.

Often, the symptoms of iron-deficient anemia are easily overlooked or credited to a different health problem.

During pregnancy, the body's need for iron increases. The fatigue is a result of the lack of iron, a mineral needed for the production of hemoglobin. Because of this lack, the body's organs do not get the amount of oxygen needed to work properly.

"In addition to extreme fatigue, I also did look very pale and would sometimes feel dizzy," says Leeper. "I didn't follow up on it because I thought it just went with the territory of carrying twins. The end of my pregnancy was during the winter so I attributed the pale skin to being cooped up inside."

A visit to her doctor showed otherwise. "During one of my prenatal visits, I had my iron checked and the result was low iron," says Leeper. "I was taking multivitamins rather than prenatal vitamins, so my doctor prescribed an iron supplement."

Want to see more?

• Are You Running out of Steam? What Every Woman Should Know About Iron Deficiency
• Are You Iron Deficient? A Simple Quiz Can Put You on the Road to Recovery
• Pumping Iron: Reduce Your Risk of Iron Deficiency Anemia
• Talk about it!