Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Dec
6
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“We Only Give Iron For Constipation.”
“We only give iron for constipation.” — Postpartum nurse to mother who asked if she could continue the iron she was on during her pregnancy.
There are 32 comments to this post.
Now, now ladies… this makes perfect sense. They give Iron to *cause* constipation so they have a problem they can fix for mom and be the heroes!
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C.Pratt Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 2:31 pm (Quote)
My husband likes to say that giving birth is like any other bodily function: if you are allowed to do it in your own time without an audience you won’t need vacuum extraction. I don’t know about you, but I almost never get the urge to poop in public restrooms, the need hits as soon as I get home (or to my parents house– they love that 
.
Due to that perspective, when I read your post I had a pretty ugly visual. I’ve heard of hospital patients needing manual extraction, and that just sounds horrifying.
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Lisa Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 2:34 pm (Quote)
I don’t know about you, but I almost never get the urge to poop in public restrooms, the need hits as soon as I get home
I’m the same way…my body refuses to poop in hotel restrooms (or in the woods while camping, for that matter). So much fun coming home and having to RUN to the bathroom after a 3 or 4 day trip. 
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Jewels Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 5:52 pm (Quote)
“My husband likes to say that giving birth is like any other bodily function: if you are allowed to do it in your own time without an audience you won’t need vacuum extraction”
As someone who transferred from planned-homebirth to hospital after about 35 hours of (active) labour (36 hours total, not exact about what time we transferred) for a vacuum-assisted birth, I just want to say that while it’s a nice idea in theory… it’s not always accurate
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C.Pratt Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 7:54 pm (Quote)
Oh sure, I hear ya. I think he’s referring to people who plan to birth in hospital when they aren’t experiencing any complications. Of course we were prepared to go to the hospital if need be, as it sounds like you made the difficult and wise decision to do so.
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Jessica had this to say,
Dec 6, 2011 @ 2:59 pm (Quote)
So if I have, say, anemia I don’t get any iron supplements? Do I get to take Milk of Magnesia instead? I never knew a post-partum woman’s body would completely defy science.
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Sonia Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 3:35 pm (Quote)
After my last c-section I royally pissed the nurse off because I refused to take the Milk of Magnesia and when she kept pushing it, I had her removed. What a silly argument, I knew what was going on with my body and knew that it would be a BADDDDDD situation if I took that stuff….Lets see, go on my own when I am good and ready OR have to RUN to the bathroom with a fresh c-section…hmmm…decisions, decisions…
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Jane Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 3:53 pm (Quote)
I left my obstetric practice in the 2nd pregnancy because when I called with symptoms of anemia and told them how after the birth of my first my hemoglobin had been like an 8, they REFUSED to test my blood, REFUSED to say it was okay to take iron supplements, and then told me “It’s impossible to become anemic while pregnant.”
I changed practices and saw midwives after that. Best decision I ever made. (Well, one of them.)
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Katy Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 4:09 pm (Quote)
Impossible to become anemic while pregnant? The original post is a pretty dumb comment, but this one is just plain asinine. Serious explodey-head!
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Jessica Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 4:43 pm (Quote)
Whoa, where did this OB earn a degree? I’ve become anemic in 3 out of 5 pregnancies, then I go back to normal levels after birth. I got so bad the last time I couldn’t just make it through with Floradix and needed something stronger.
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Details Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 6:16 am (Quote)
Where did you get your degree? A good question for both this nurse and that doctor. And I would be just the a-hole to call the school and ask them if they knew one of their graduates was spouting total BS and would they please recall his/her degree.
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Rachel Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 6:30 am (Quote)
my midwives told me to take iron when they found out my numbers were low and I took it till the end of my pregnancy but my iron kept dropping every time they tested it…. drove me nuts… taking a suplement and eating iron rich foods 
Bagels said they had 25% daily value… I was eating 4-5 a day allong with taking iron liquid, then swiched to a pill …. and that has happened with both my pregnancies, so about not getting anemic when pregnant… crazy
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So, yeah. I was a high-risk patient at the university hospital. Delivery was fantastic — 21 hours of the nicest nurses and most competent doctors I could hope for — and then they transferred me to the “normal” post-partum unit. Where I met Joy.
My doctor had apparently written that I could resume my anticoagulant shots at four in the morning. “No, thank you. How about I page you when we get up and you can come do it then?”
“NO. I can do it at four am plus or minus a half hour.”
(My birth plan — all two pages of it — can be summarized by the following sentence: “Do not let me get tired.” I’ve had some strokes and have struggled with fatigue ever since.)
Anyway, she followed her four in the morning statement with this bit about iron being only for constipation; that’s when I just tuned her out and prayed I’d be discharged before she came on again.
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Renai Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 7:47 am (Quote)
That’s just nuts. Well, maybe if you had been in the “abnormal” unit things would have been better. maybe? Did you get out of there before she was back?
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Jane Reply:
December 7th, 2011 at 8:59 am (Quote)
She sounds as if she could hold exactly one thought in her head at a time and darn it, she was going to follow through. :-b
I wonder if once long ago she heard one nurse say to another, “I don’t know why they prescribe iron to everyone. Ferrous sulfate is useless. It’s really only good for causing constipation!” and this is how her brain morphed it.
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Jessica had this to say,
Dec 6, 2011 @ 6:55 pm (Quote)
Ditto Jewels. Mine was only 24 hours before we transferred but I had a great labor until after an hour of pushing baby’s heart rate began to drop too much. After the transfer & vacuum, we found out his cord was wrapped around his neck twice as well as his body and a leg. I’m so grateful for the vacuum, there’s a reason these things exist. Just because they are over used doesn’t mean they never have appropriate use.
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This makes me sad had this to say,
Dec 7, 2011 @ 10:22 am (Quote)
Seriously? I didn’t get into nursing school last semester and I know better than that. Our system is so jacked.
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Wait, what? Does this nurse even know what she’s saying?
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KDB Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 2:10 pm KDB(Quote)
Of course!
It’s obviously an introduction to the Opposite sketch!
Right?
Right!? *please*
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Kate, Ren's mama Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 2:17 pm Kate, Ren's mama(Quote)
This is the only logical explanation…
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