[phoebemommy]

Hello --<br><br>
I have a discrepancy between my naturopath and my midwife, and I'm looking to see if anyone has experience on this one. I bled a little after my last birth and had multiple pitocin shots, like 4 or 5. Honestly I think the whole thing was blown out of proportion by my midwife's apprentice, but that's another story. Anyway, we're trying to avoid the pitocin again this time as I have a bad feeling about how it affected me, and we're prepared to do cottonwood bark for sure while I'm pushing. But now my midwife suddenly thinks I ought to get on B-12. I think it's a whim, really, she recently read it's good for anemia support. I asked my naturopath today, and he said it's only necessary if my anemia is from a B-12 deficiency (logical) which I have no idea if I have, but no reason to think it.<br><br>
My iron came back a little low here at 37 weeks (10.4, down from 10.5 a few weeks ago), but not disasterously low. And my midwife, in her voicemail, stressed again the B-12 thing. My red blood cell count (that's the thing, right?) was also a little low at the beginning of pregnancy, don't know about it now, though. Thing is, I had just finished nursing my 3 year old when I got pregnant and I was really drained of everything, but I've been building everything back up during this pregnancy, which I can tell has been working pretty well.<br><br>
I suppose the B-12 couldn't hurt, but I'm kind of feeling vitamin fatigue at this point, and I take a fantastic multi-vitamin (as good as any prenatal, but prenatals have made me feel icky in the past). Also, I feel good. Tired and hugely pregnant, but good underneath that.<br><br>
So, anyone know about this B-12 thing?

 

[AutumnW]

I've been anemic all of my life because of a b-12 deficiency. The problem is that my body doesn't absorb b-12 through my digestive tract so the only way for me to get enough is to take a sublingual supplement that dissolves under your tongue. If I take a multi-vitamin with b-12 in it it just passes through my system and comes out as bright yellow pee. If I take extra Iron without the b-12 it gives me a stomach ache and comes back up sometimes because it cannot be absorbed without the b-12. Some people even have to get b-12 injections because that is the only way to get it into their blood stream.<br><br>
You could always give it a try and see if it helps, if you don't want to have a blood test done to rule out the b-12 deficiency. Are you taking chlorophyl or alfalfa or anything to up your rbc count? this is good to do near the end of pregnancy because the more red blood cells you have the more iron can bind to them.

 

[phoebemommy]

Thanks Marie! That helps me understand the interplay of the different factors. I talked to my midwife about this iron supplement I was taking before I got pregnant that has B12, nettles, alfalfa and some other stuff in it -- she thought it sounded like a good. I kind of wish I took it the entire pregnancy... she wanted me to stop because iron supplements are hard on the liver, so I switched to taking black strap molasses, since the preferred wheat grass was making me barf. And, I generally eat a lot of meat, though lately it's kind of gross to me. The molasses did help a lot, I think (I could feel it working) but looking at it now, it's a great iron supplement I was on.<br><br>
Part of not wanting to get into something new is the sheer amount of money I already spend on supplements a month. It's like $100+. At this point I'd rather not buy even more if I can find a way around it, you know? But this will work!