So basically ladies does anybody know if having suffered from Anaemia during pregnancy will have any effects on labour?

I ask because I have a real phobia of hospitals, injections, doctors anything like that really stemming from spending a lot of my childhood in hospital having kidney operations and such. So I thought I had found quite a good solution in the form of a midwifery led unit...it is at a hospital about 20mins away from me as opposed to one 10mins away from me and although it is still a hospital once yu actually get into the midwifery unit it is a lot less like a hospital. It is normally very quiet for a start, has a lot more labour aids such as birthing balls and pools and from what I can gather is just a lot less hectic. All the midwifes are lovely and seem so supportive. The only thing is to be able to labour there you have to have had a normal pregnancy, be signed off from a consultant if you have been under one for anything, baby has to be presenting head down etc etc because they do have an emergency doctor they can call but there is not one there 24-7.

I looked round a few weeks ago and decided this would be best for me, now today I recieve a letter from the hospital to say that following my last blood tests my heamoglobin (sp) has dropped from 12.8 to 10.2 meaning I have anaemia and they have orescribed me iron tablets for the rest of my pregnancy. Will this affect me in labour? will this mean I will have to just be in a normal labour ward? I have a midwife appointment next week so will ask her but just wondered if anyone could give me an insight so I can start getting my head round it

Thanx x

I was anaemic when I was pregnant with my son, no one told me until I was 37 weeks pregnant as I had a different midwife every week. I had very little energy in labour and was kept under consultant led care due to my iron levels. I think it was aroud 9.6 but it has been over a year and my memory is terrible. Afterwards I had a post-partum haemorrhage, I lost 800ml which in reality isn't that much at all, but due to my iron levels (which dropped to 7 something) I needed 2 blood transfusions (NOT as scary as it sounds, promise!). I was totally fine afterwards, just had less energy, and I was home 2 days later.
Definitely speak to your midwife, I had hoped to be under midwife led care as the hospital I gave birth in had a lovely midwife led room with a birthing pool, but unfortunately I wasn't allowed. It is probably something that varies by hospital and iron levels though, so you still might be allowed to go to the unit you want to x

Hi hun, I'm in ALMOST the exact same situation but my count was 10.4 I think, or something. The thing is it's not apparently even considered that serious (apparently!?) until it's below 9. You can take the iron tablets (which I have steered away from as spatone sachets from boots are WAY better on all counts, don't give you digestive problems AND have high absorption) and you'll probably be fine in a few weeks.

I've also been accepted into a birthing centre and it has the same rules, I never though low iron would be an issue as a REALLY high percentage of women get it in pregnancy and its really not that serious. Best thing is to call them up but I doubt it's something that makes you riskier which is what they basically don't want.

Best of luck!

EDIT: Just readteh above post, so maybe my MW is a nutter when she said it wasn't serious until under 9. but low iron is really common! Try spatone!!!! It's really good for energy levels and if you have low iron you can take two a day.

im anemic anyways, my levels actually went up in pregnancy haha
it was 7.3 before i got preg with DD then when to about 10. My labour was midwife led and fine
i was offered to use birthing pool but that was only because my levels had gone up slightly, if they hadnt i wouldnt have been allowed to use it (i didnt use it anyway though) x

I think maybe Derby were just a bit overcautious then, they gave no other reason for keeping me under consultant led care (I was originally under it for a cyst which went away by 20 weeks). I think it's really rare for iron levels to be a problem anyway, its only if you have a (rare) PPH that it can be a problem. I didn't want to worry you or anything, that's just what happened to me x

I can really relate to your fear of hospitals.

I think the question of whether your iron levels are sufficiently low for the midwife unit will be a question of their individual policies. But as others have said, 10.2 isn't that low for the 3rd tri... mine came out as around that and neither my GP nor MW were at all worried...

Im glad u mentioned that. im permantly anaemic due to a blood condition (my HB is normally around 8.6ish but has dropped lower in the past) and im petrified of needles. ive had councilling and hypnotherapy for it but im still terrfied. i need to see an anethnetist next tuesday and im assuming this is because of possible complicatiuons during the birth because of my anaemia??? im also having extra scans to check the growth of bubs incase my anaemia affects it but so far so good!

when i was having DD i became anaemic at around 20 weeks. i started on 1 iron tablet per day but by the end of the pregnancy i was on 3 per day. my labour was fine and i didn't need and special care. i was advised to carry on taking the tablets after birth for about a month or so.