Iron supplementation

Iron supplementation is necessary when there is iron deficiency established. Anemia can lead to difficulties in the baby’s development and even a prenatal death or premature birth. If present, anemia can cause prolonged mother’s recovery after childbirth, that is why iron supplementation should be considered pre-conception or and in the early stages of pregnancy, with a much better impact than later supplementation.

After childbirth and during breastfeeding, iron reserves are increasingly spent. Babies take iron from their mothers. It’s commonly present in breastmilk, so a deficiency can affect a baby’s development, as well as the mother’s health.

Unlike the common opinion that developing countries and vegetarians and vegans are under the red alert when it comes to this issue, nowadays we can see that the last two groups have a higher conscience about their daily intake of nutrients. At the same time, mothers from developing countries need more education about iron-rich food available, while mothers from developing countries should exclude fast food choices and empty calories from their diet. Sounds more difficult than it is, all we need is to be well informed and willing to do such small effort as food choice is for our baby’s sake, as well as for our own.

Here you see some of the easy accessible iron-rich choices which we can find almost anywhere. Supplementation is recommended if this natural approach, iron intake over diet, is not enough effective.