Ani (now at 38 weeks so just ahead of you) is having both the iron problem and the back-to-back baby problem as well, so I've been doing some reading up on both for her! Http://homebirth.org.uk has a useful page on iron deficiency & its implications, if you want to read it. They quote some evidence that low iron in very-pregnant women is in fact normal & shouldn't be treated as concerning in the same way as it would in non-pregnant women (which is what tends to happen).
The NICE guidelines only count it as "low iron" & thus recommend a hospital when it's below 8.5; between 8.5 and 10.5 they recommend an "individualised assessment". Different trusts policies vary, of course (Southampton says below 10 they're unhappy with a home birth too). They can't actually refuse you a home birth if that's what you want - if you just stay home they are obliged to send someone - but whether you want to do that is a matter of personal preference, risk assessment, how strongly you want to be at home rather than in hospital, whether you (well, your birth partner!) is happy insisting... & so on. (A very strongly does not want to be in hospital, but she has a handful of specific personal reasons for that.)
Apparently 87% of babies who go into labour back-to-back turn during labour; lots of upright & forward-leaning positions in early labour seem to be the recommended option!
I have ongoing (since my teens) low-iron problems (obv not pregnancy-related) and have found that liquid Floradix works better than Floradix tablets and much better than regular iron tablets; also actually tastes quite nice (sort of fruity) and didn't give me any side effects. YMMV. Never tried Spatone (A has; no side effects but didn't make a difference either; she's now onto high-heam content fish & shellfish, so if you eat those you could try that?).
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Date: 2011-02-24 08:04 am (UTC)The NICE guidelines only count it as "low iron" & thus recommend a hospital when it's below 8.5; between 8.5 and 10.5 they recommend an "individualised assessment". Different trusts policies vary, of course (Southampton says below 10 they're unhappy with a home birth too). They can't actually refuse you a home birth if that's what you want - if you just stay home they are obliged to send someone - but whether you want to do that is a matter of personal preference, risk assessment, how strongly you want to be at home rather than in hospital, whether you (well, your birth partner!) is happy insisting... & so on. (A very strongly does not want to be in hospital, but she has a handful of specific personal reasons for that.)
Apparently 87% of babies who go into labour back-to-back turn during labour; lots of upright & forward-leaning positions in early labour seem to be the recommended option!
I have ongoing (since my teens) low-iron problems (obv not pregnancy-related) and have found that liquid Floradix works better than Floradix tablets and much better than regular iron tablets; also actually tastes quite nice (sort of fruity) and didn't give me any side effects. YMMV. Never tried Spatone (A has; no side effects but didn't make a difference either; she's now onto high-heam content fish & shellfish, so if you eat those you could try that?).
Good luck with the next few weeks!