Hi Sue: I decided it was probably easier to look up pubmed than dive into my boxes. I agree with everything Lois said and if you go to pubmed yourself you will indeed see the controversy. Personally except in women where you know there is a pre-existing disease causing blood loss (parasites etc..) then the maternal body copes beautifully any way I have pasted this extract below because I remember a discussion a while back on restless legs syndrome:
J Womens Health Gend Based Med 2001 May;10(4):335-41 Related
Articles, Links
Restless legs syndrome and sleep disturbance during pregnancy: the role of
folate and iron.
Lee KA, Zaffke ME, Baratte-Beebe K.
Department of Family Health Care Nursing, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0606, USA.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurosensory disorder that typically
begins in the evening and often prevents a person from falling asleep. It
has been associated with iron deficiency anemia and dopaminergic pathways
and is often treated with iron infusion or dopamine agonists. The purpose of
this secondary analysis of longitudinal data collected on women before,
during, and after pregnancy is to document the prevalence of RLS during
pregnancy, contrast its effect on sleep and mood state, and explore the role
of folate and iron in the expression of RLS, specifically during the third
trimester when the syndrome is most distressing. The prevalence increased
from 0 during preconception to 23% (n = 7) during the third trimester of
pregnancy. Only 1 subject continued to experience RLS after delivery.
Compared with those without complaints of restless legs, those with restless
legs had low serum ferritin at preconception and significantly lower folate
levels during preconception and at each trimester. In addition, time to
sleep onset was significantly delayed and depressed mood was significantly
higher in the RLS group. Rather than indicators of iron deficiency anemia
(serum ferritin, serum iron, and hemoglobin) or pernicious anemia (vitamin
B(12)), it was reduced serum folate level that was associated with RLS in
this sample of pregnant women. Findings indicate a need to reconsider
recommendations about the normal ranges of serum ferritin and serum folate
levels during pregnancy to minimize the complaints of restless legs and
promote more consolidated sleep and better daytime mood state during
pregnancy.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sue Cookson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 3:02 AM
Subject: [ozmidwifery] Haemoglobin and ferritin levels
> Hi,
> Needing some help to clarify the difference between haemoglobin levels and
> ferritin levels.
>
> Have a local GP who switches between the two readings depending on which
one
> is lowest and suggests/insists on iron injections.
>
> Levels I've had quoted from some of the women are:
>
> Hb 107
> Ferritin 14
>
>
> another: Hb 109
> Ferritin 13
>
> These two women are both 32 weeks.
>
> Just needing clarification and some evidence about the relevance of
> both/either readings. Hb levels seem fine to me - a bit foxed by the
> ferritin level - one woman had dropped from 120 early pregnancy to 14
now...
>
> Look forward to your fine input,
>
> Sue
>
>
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