- Pale skin, lips, nails, palms of hands, or underside of the eyelids.
- Feeling tired.
- Sensation of spinning (vertigo) or dizziness.
- Labored breathing.
- Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia).
- Trouble concentrating.
- Have 2 pregnancies close together.
- Are pregnant with twins or more.
- Have vomiting often because of morning sickness.
- Are not getting enough iron from their diet and prenatal
- vitamins.
- Had heavy periods before pregnancy.
- You can get several kinds of anemia during pregnancy. The cause varies based on the type.
- Anemia of pregnancy. During pregnancy, the volume of blood increases.
- This means more iron and vitamins are needed to make more red blood cells. If you don’t have enough iron, it can cause anemia. It’s not considered abnormal unless your red blood cell count falls too low.
- Iron-deficiency anemia. During pregnancy, your baby uses your red blood cells for growth and development, especially in the last 3 months of pregnancy.
- If you have extra red blood cells stored in your bone marrow before you get pregnant, your body can use those stores during pregnancy.
- Women who don’t have enough iron stores can get iron-deficiency anemia. This is the most common type of anemia in pregnancy.
- Good nutrition before getting pregnant is important to help build up these stores.
- Vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12 is important in making red blood cells and protein. Eating food that comes from animals, such as milk, eggs, meats, and poultry, can prevent vitamin B12 deficiency.
- Women who don’t eat any foods that come from animals (vegans) are most likely to get vitamin B12 deficiency. Strict vegans often need to get vitamin B12 shots during pregnancy.
- Folate deficiency. Folate (folic acid) is a B vitamin that works with iron to help with cell growth. If you don’t get enough folate during pregnancy, you could get iron deficiency.
- Folic acid helps cut the risk of having a baby with certain birth defects of the brain and spinal cord if it’s taken before getting pregnant and in early pregnancy.
Can anemia during pregnancy be prevented?
- Good pre-pregnancy nutrition not only helps prevent anemia, but also helps build other nutritional stores in your body.
- Eating a healthy, balanced diet before and during pregnancy helps keep up your levels of iron and other important nutrients needed for your growing baby.
- Good food sources of iron include:
- Meats. Beef, pork, lamb, liver, and other organ meats.
- Poultry. Chicken, duck, turkey, and liver, especially dark meat.
- Fish. Shellfish, including (fully-cooked) clams, mussels, and oysters are good.
- So are sardines and anchovies. The FDA recommends that pregnant women eat 8 to 12 ounces per week of fish that are lower in mercury.
- These include salmon, shrimp, pollock, cod, tilapia, tuna (light canned), and catfish. Don’t eat fish with high levels of mercury, such as tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico, shark, swordfish, and king mackerel. Limit white (albacore) tuna to only 6 ounces per week.
- Leafy greens of the cabbage family. These include broccoli, kale, turnip greens, and collards.
- Legumes. Lima beans and green peas; dry beans and peas, such as pinto beans, black-eyed peas, and canned baked beans.
- Yeast-leavened whole-wheat bread and rolls.
- Iron-enriched white bread, pasta, rice, and cereals.
- Leafy, dark green vegetables.
- Citrus fruits and juices and most berries.
- Fortified breakfast cereals.
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