IRON DEFICIENCY, FATIGUE, AND POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION

The most common single nutrient deficiency today is iron deficiency. Conventionally, the risk of iron deficiency is thought to be lowest right after child birth.  However recent research has shown that the prevalence of iron deficiency and anemia is growing, especially among low income women.  The standard American diet is insufficient to meet the iron needs of pregnant women.  If left unsupplemented, most women are at risk of developing iron deficiency during pregnancy.

Iron deficiency has many symptoms, the most common of which is fatigue. After delivery there are many new stresses and responsibilities that a new mother must undertake.  The sleepless nights, recovery period, and busy days add a lot of stress to a new mother coping with fatigue.  Her effectiveness and quality of work may be impaired as well as her cognitive function, verbal skills and memory.  This is no way to spend the bonding period after bringing a precious new life into the world.  

Postpartum fatigue is a predictor of postpartum depression and must be taken into consideration and treated.  While “baby blues” are a common postpartum occurrence, effecting between 50 and 80 percent of women today, postpartum depression has a lesser occurrence of between 20 and 30 percent.  While baby blues are not a predictor of postpartum depression, there is evidence that fatigue is a good indicator. 
A well documented treatment option for women of childbearing age experiencing fatigue caused by iron deficiency is iron supplementation.  Even in non-anemic women, iron supplementation has been shown to be a viable treatment option for fatigue.   A random clinical trial of 136 women of childbearing age suffering from unexplained fatigue showed that there was a benefit to iron supplementation even in non-anemic women.  Even though the women’s iron levels were normal their iron stores may have been low which is why they responded well to supplementation.

In traditional Chinese medicine the placenta is used to treat fatigue in postpartum women.  In an examination of 49 intact cords and placentas, it was shown that the placenta is a very good source of iron, as well as protein, vitamin B6 and many beneficial hormones.  Chinese medicine uses the placenta to augment the Qi and bring the postpartum body back into balance and nourish the blood – both are believed to cause fatigue if disturbed.

In conclusion, there is evidence that using the iron rich placenta internally after childbirth can be a good way to prevent iron deficiency.  Extra iron, even in non-anemic women, is an excellent way to prevent fatigue, which has been shown to be a predictor of postpartum depression.  Placenta medicine is a very promising and common sense way to help support postpartum women during a very important time in their lives.