Boost Your Iron: What to Do & What to Avoid

Many mothers are deficient in iron before or during pregnancy.

Many more mothers are deficient after pregnancy.

It’s quite common – we lose a lot of blood in the first 4-6 weeks after birth.

I didn’t know until how important iron was until after having my babies.

And when I look back at the postpartum depression I experienced after my 3rd, I have a gut feeling low iron was one of the culprits.

I was vegetarian at the time, and looking after everyone else except myself. Vegetarian, eating mostly whole foods, but not knowing what my postpartum body actually needed.

And I was stressed to the max.

How can you tell if you’re low, or deficient, in iron?

Some signs can be:

feeling tired more easily (yes, a bit hard to tell when you have broken sleep as well with a new baby!)
dizziness
headaches
shortness of breath
trouble concentrating
looking pale/anemia
depression

It also affects digestive function. Digestion is already changed after birth, due to the lowered enzymes as the sympathetic nervous system has been activated in order to focus on healing the body.

Postpartum depression and anxiety due to low iron levels is often overlooked by some health care professionals, and instead anti-depressants are prescribed. (Please note, these medications have their place, however, rule out low iron first of all).

Usually a doctor or health care provider will prescribe an iron supplement but often many women state it makes them feel sick, or cause digestive complaints, which is not ideal, seeing as though your digestive system is already needing extra support at this time.

What can you do?

Receiving your iron from herbs and foods are a gentle and easy way for many women to build their stores. Check with a health care provider that knows about herbs, if you’re not sure.

Some of the common herbs that are beneficial after birth, and can be consumed as a tea or tincture are:

Nettles

Parsley

Raspberry Leaf

Oat Straw

Include a vitamin c rich herb, like rosehips, to assist with the absorption of the iron. Check out the Mama’s Iron Boost tea, which has the combination of Raspberry leaf, Nettles and Rosehips. Rosehip also contains iron as an added bonus! *Check with your healthcare provider if you have any health issues.

Some iron rich foods are:

Organic Red meat

Organic liver (available in capsules if eating it doesn’t sound appealing)

Blackstrap molasses

Spinach

Dried apricots

Raisins & prunes

Lentils & Chickpeas (though best to avoid these in the early days postpartum as they may cause gas for you and baby, unless you can digest them well and baby doesn’t get colic pain)

This is not an entire list of foods, but just a general guide. Remember you need a source of vitamin c with the iron rich foods.

Getting your iron from the whole foods is most beneficial however if you need a supplement, try to get a liquid plant based one. You may get one from a herbalist or health food store.

Now, here’s 1 important tip/rule:

Avoid drinking tea or coffee half an hour before eating, and a minimum of half an hour after eating. The polyphenols in caffeine inhibit absorption of iron!

Listen to your body, and if you know you’re not feeling right, possibly get some blood tests. Even though these really can be unreliable – you can ask for the results to be printed out and go to a naturopath or herbalist for them to read the results.

If you’re looking for more assistance with meals for postpartum health and wellbeing, book in for your free consultation here.

Your health is important – for you, for your baby, your family and the community at large.

Many Blessings

Tara