blood transfusions

[abbiecourt]

has anyone had one these after giving birth?
i been taking iron but my consultant said if my bloods are low again i am gonna have to have a blood transfution after having baby x

 

[tinytoes]

I've had few , not after birth but after surgeries . The best way to avoid it is make sure to east lots of red meat , green veg and extra vitiman c as it helps you store iron . Your consultant is right to warn you as we all run a risk of needing a transfusion afterwards if you are low on iron . But dont worry too much and just mind yourself in the next few weeks xxxx

 

[Sunnyb]

I haemorrhaged after having Joseph (one of the causes being low iron levels!) & needed 4 transfusions.
My iron levels were low during my pregnancy with Holly, so I was prescribed iron tablets. I took them ritually 3 per day for the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy & got my levels above 12 which is recommended.
To help your body absorb iron take it with fresh orange juice & avoid tea, coffee & caffeine for 1.5 hours either side of taking them. Also eat iron rich foods. Special K cereal is very good, so are Farley's rusks, dried fruit & green leafy vegetables - again eating meals & drinking fresh orange is really good to help boost iron absorption. My birth with Holly was massively different than with Joseph, no haemorrhage or too large a blood loss & no transfusions!!

Sunnyb xxx

 

[pinkymum]

I haemorrhaged after having Joseph (one of the causes being low iron levels!) & needed 4 transfusions.
My iron levels were low during my pregnancy with Holly, so I was prescribed iron tablets. I took them ritually 3 per day for the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy & got my levels above 12 which is recommended.
To help your body absorb iron take it with fresh orange juice & avoid tea, coffee & caffeine for 1.5 hours either side of taking them. Also eat iron rich foods. Special K cereal is very good, so are Farley's rusks, dried fruit & green leafy vegetables - again eating meals & drinking fresh orange is really good to help boost iron absorption. My birth with Holly was massively different than with Joseph, no haemorrhage or too large a blood loss & no transfusions!!

Sunnyb xxx

Good advice from sunny!

I had a transfusion after having Emily, I only lost 500mls of blood but I was anaemic before and during pregnancy so that didn't help. My hemoglobin levels dropped to 63, think it's supposed to be about 120.

 

[cosmicgirl]

I had one during pregnancy for critically low iron and two for loss of blood during delivery - I had more holes in me during and after that pregnancy, I'm surprised I didn't leak! x

 

[JJ Mum]

I had two during my miscaridge to sort me out before my D&C op as I was a bit of a mess in A&E. It was fine and made me feel much much better! I had trouble with iron tablets during pregnancy as they bunged me up proper big time! So I did it via food instead. I found the only thing that did it for me was fortified cereals, weatabix was good, but shredies every morning did it for me just in the nick of time that I was due to have my section for my baby.Get cracking now as it can take 3 months to sort out your bloods.

Worth mentioning - If you have a transfusion, you can't give blood ever again, due to the risk of CJD in blood samples. It's the bot that gutted me most , as after the MC I wanted to give something back as I had been helped!!

 

[rachcraig]

The midwife said that to me at my last appointment aswell. Think my blood level was down to 8. Just been taking my iron tablets 3 times a day and eating lots of iron rich food xx