can i get my needed iron for baby naturally through food?
i’ve had constipation problems for many years. i finally stabilized myself w/ an iron free multivitamin and healthy lifestyle. i’m 9 weeks pregnant so for the past 2 months i switched to a prenatal w/ iron. i got severly constipated and tried another to no avail. my constipation is severe. every 2 days at the most, major straining. i can’t sleep from abdominal discomfort resulting from the constipation. and i clog the toilet with my huge, hard stools everytime i go. otc remedies like fiber con and citracul give me abdominal cramps. i’m thinking i should go back to my rainbow light one a day multi iron free, and just pay attention that i have plenty of iron in my diet. is this a good solution? is the iron during pregnancy for me or baby cause i sure don’t need it.
Related Posts:
16 Responses for “can i get my needed iron for baby naturally through food?”
Leave a Reply
-->
--> 
Your doctor should have prescribed a stool softner. Iron is needed because otherwise you will become anemic, and could pass out among other problems. talk to your doctor about what will work best for you
Great question for your doctor. Ask about stool softeners which should help. Your iron needs go up during late pregnancy, so I don’t know if you need supplementation right now. Definitely ask your doctor.
Yes, you can get the needed iron through the food you eat. Women, for millions of years, have been having babies, before the invention of the multi-vitamin. They delivered healthy babies! When you take a vitamin, you’ll notice your urine turns colors. That’s because your body is getting rid of anything that was in that multi-vitamin that your body didn’t need. So that’s alot of money down the toilet isn’t it? If iron in a vitamin form is making you constipated try eating more dried fruits. Also celery and broccoli will help with constipation. Good luck!
The iron in prenatals can be alot and make you sick or constipated. Take 2 children’s vitamin a day like flintstones. The will give you the right amount of vitamins without the side efftects. IF you want cut the vitamin out all together. Iron rich foods like, Strawberries, broccoli, liver to name a few. You can get all the nutrients you need for pregnancy through food, find a Herbal Store, or Organic Food Store something like that and they should be able to tell you what foods carry what minerals and vitamins. Be careful about some foods though, while they are good for you, they might be harmful for long term use in pregnancy. Ginger is one of them, even though it helps with the morning sickness you should take it for prolonged use during pregnancy.
The important vitamin for the baby at this stage is folic acid. Check with your doctor with regards to the iron. It is possible that he can recommend a supplement that is low in iron but high in folic acid.
I had a terrible time with pre natal vitamines myself and had to stop them part way through both my pregnancies. My doctor simply monitored my vitamin levels and prescribed for me accordingly. Both my babies are healthy.
You can probably get your iron from food, just look at how much iron you need and find some foods that combine to have that much iron.
I also have had lots of problems with constipation since I’ve been pregnant (and before, but it also has been much worse for me while pregnant) and the thing I have found that helps the best is eating lots of foods that contain a lot of natural fiber. It means I eat a lot of beans and fruit and vegetables (which, actually, can get a little old… how may ways are there to eat beans?) but it helps a lot and I don’t get the additional cramping that I get with the fiber supplements like metamucil. I find if I eat between 6 and 12 grams of fiber total at each meal it is about right. You can find the fiber content by looking at the label (dietary fiber) or by searching on the internet.
A friend of mine has this same problem, and she breastfeeds so then the baby gets constipated also. She has tried eating bran every day, but the bran didn’t work for her now she eats a bowl of shreaded wheat every day and she no longer has constipation and the baby is going every day to every other day (compared to every 3-5 days). Some people the bran will work others need the wheat, she even eats the sugar coated shreaded wheat. Good luck
I have the same gastric woes. Mid-way through my pregnancy and still to this day (nursing) I take Flintstones vitamins. My OB/GYN said they were fine and don’t contain the iron amounts in other vitamins. Fiber also gives me cramps. I found that removing most milk products from my diet, switching to Silk, limiting potatoes, no corn, no white breads, items with lots of flour in them, helps a lot. I also eat Kashi wild berry cereal everyday(don’t attempt the GO LEAN it is too much). Also adding the Uncle Ben’s whole grain rice with black beans once a week helps keep things moving without hurting. As you get closer to your next trimester it will get easier. Also keep moving and drink lots of water. It will keep your bowels moving. The best exercise for any stage of pregnancy is swimming. I swam up to the day before my labor started. After delivery it’s very important to keep things moving take it from me I got a tear from the constipation due to the pain meds from delivery ask for something when you go home from the hospital. If you feel a gas attack coming on drink water about 32 oz in 20 mins. and rock in a rocking chair or just start moving around, chewing gum after eating helps also I could explain but it would take forever.
quick answer yes
the best thing to eat would be steamed or blanched green veg (this will preserve the folic acid and cruciferus veg are hi in iron and contain vit c if not over cooked)
increasing vit c at an iron rich meal will increase iron absorbtion kiwis are a good sourse (better than oranges)
Yes just eat heaps of iron (like cashews, spinach etc).
Multivitamins are only necessary if you aren’t getting enough from your diet. So if you are eating a wide range of naturally occuring foods, you should be fine.
Did someone say FIBER???
Eat things with fiber; prunes, raisins, bran, apples, friut juices…
It is okay to get off the vitamins if you can have a well balanced diet…or the call it the “Best Odds Diet”.
It’s where you eat all food groups every day. Iron is iron whether it’s in a pill or in food. Sow however you get it, you just have to get plenty of fiber to keep your bowels moving.
Or you can even buy the fiber powder and put it in your meals and drinks.
You know the BEST way to keep your bowels healthy is PROBIOTICS. You can find them at Whole Foods or any herbs store has them. Bifidofolus a probiotics and really good for your immune system too!
Best wishes!
hi, i am from india where every 2nd woman is anaemic.and when these iron tabs were not invested , then also they all went thru normal deliveries. it is so much possible to get all the iron you need for the baby and you. you do need the iron, there maybe blodd loss later on, there could be problems with the baby, they need their iron and they get it from us. you need to have spinach and bananas and all the other foods which are rich in iron. also have vitaminc c as it woudl help in absorption of iron from the natural food. infat doc can give you some meds to keep control on the stool part. as far as i know, the irons we take now. help us later on. babies get all the essential iron they need till the age of 6 months only from mother’s milk. hence your body needs to store it. thats why docs give us iron tabs. check with her. there are different versions of iron tabs, some or the other would suit you. when we have tabs, might as well take them. absorbing all the iron only from food is impossible because you maynot want to eat the same foods all the time.
abha d
I have the same problem. My doctor put me on Flintstones multi-vitamins and a stool softener. They work great.
Eat spinach.
You can get iron from your food, but it’s generally not enough during pregnancy. You should look for foods that will relieve your constipation instead of the other way around. It’s a lot easier. You also need to make sure you’re drinking enough water – a minimum of eight – eight ounce glasses per day. Here’s a link with some information that may help you:,-Foods-that-Relieve-Constipation
I would ask your doc 1st!!!