Five months ago, I delivered my first child and felt completely out of it a few days after the birth. I was light-headed, feeling completely ungrounded, struggling with breastfeeding, and chalking it up to these hormonal swings we learn about in medical school. I even talked to my midwives about my symptoms, and they assured me it was completely normal.
After about two weeks of feeling like I couldn’t count to five or make breakfast, I decided to log in to the health system and check my discharge blood work from the hospital. Lo and behold, I was severely anemic but not anemic enough for the hospital to give me an iron infusion or blood transfusion before discharge (though they worked me up for a transfusion during the birth). Similarly, my midwives explained they commonly discharge people with these numbers, knowing that you can slowly build your iron levels back up through supplementation and diet.
As many as 5% of folks having babies experience up to 1 liter of blood loss during delivery, known as postpartum hemorrhage. On average, people lose anywhere from 500mL for vaginal births and 1000mL for cesarean births. Suppose you are someone who was already struggling with iron levels during pregnancy. In that case, these blood losses can be exhausting to your body and make you feel very similar symptoms to the looming hormonal changes. Similarly, symptoms of postpartum low iron levels include impaired quality of life, poor cognitive performance, emotional instability, increased risk for postpartum depression, and poor lactation.
In Australia, doctors prescribe intravenous iron in pregnancy (96%) and/or postpartum (85%), with administration predominantly hospital-based (92%). In 2020, some Canadian physicians published an article stating that good evidence suggests that IV iron should be considered postpartum for certain people. They state that “its use should be considered in select clinical situations following comprehensive clinical and laboratory assessment.”
After my delivery, I couldn’t stand feeling the way I was and was curious to know if it could be helped with an iron IV. I booked a series of iron infusions here at Acacia Health with my colleagues, Dr. Pam Hutchison, ND, and Dr. Anita Komonski, ND. A few days after the first of three infusions, I felt like my feet were back on the ground. By the third infusion, I was back to myself. This made me wonder how many people suffer from low iron postpartum unnecessarily.
If you are interested in learning more about this treatment and if it might be right for you during pregnancy or after, you can book a Virtual Iron Infusion Initial Consultation. In this 30-minute consultation, we will review your lab work, symptoms, and your personal risk assessment for this procedure. Currently I, Dr. Lorna Ciccone, ND, and Dr. Anita Komonski, ND are available for these consultations here at Acacia Health.
I wish you luck on your health journey and hope this information provides you with more support to advocate for yourself in whatever health system you are a part of.
