The Importance of Dietary Iron in Pregnancy

Iron is essential for the health of your red blood cells. As a key component of hemoglobin of the blood and of the myoglobin of the cells, iron is the main oxygen-carrier of the body. If you don't have enough iron in your blood the tissues become oxygen starved. This may manifest by making you: have pale or dry skin, have poor concentration, reduce your work performance, feel weak or tired, recover slowly from exercise, have shortness of breath or feel a loss of appetite. Infants, preschoolers, teenagers, pregnant women and women who use IUD's need more iron than others due to their increased growth or blood loss.

As many as 20% of average women are iron deficient, and all have twice the daily requirement compared to men, though they consume half as much food ¹. Iron is especially important during pregnancy, because your expanding blood volume dilutes your pre-existing iron level, the fetus is absorbing much of your iron to store for his/her early months of childhood, and because of the blood loss that will occur following birth. Altogether, pregnancy doubles a woman's requirement for iron (30-60mg or more of iron daily to ensure optimal iron status).

Women who choose to give birth outside of the hospital, such as at home or at a birth center, will need to work extra hard at maintaining or increasing their iron levels. This is important because emergency transports to the hospital occur more frequently among women who are anemic. By maintaining an average or above average amount iron, a woman can drastically decrease her chances of hemorrhaging and other emergency situations.

This is one reason why prenatal vitamins offer a good supply of iron. Another reason is because, though iron is found in many foods, it is usually in small amounts, thus making it difficult for some people to get an adequate supply of iron in their systems. A deficiency of iron is called anemia, or "tired blood". The following tips may help to ensure that you have an adequate amount of iron in your blood.

- Eat a wide variety of foods every day, including milk products, meat and alternatives, vegetables and fruit, and whole grains.
- Include iron rich foods in your diet every day.
- Eat vitamin-C rich foods with meals. This will improve your body's absorption of iron.
- Try meat, fish, or poultry to get more iron from other foods eaten in the same meal.
- Cook foods in cast iron cookware to add iron to your diet.
- Reduce the amount of tea and coffee you drink with meals. These beverages reduce the amount of iron you get from food.

1 - "Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy" by Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D.