Complications of Anaemia in Pregnancy: What to Know

Anaemia means the blood has less haemoglobin than your body needs to carry oxygen efficiently. Pregnancy increases the body's need for iron and other nutrients, while blood volume also changes. Possible effects include pronounced tiredness, weakness, headaches, dizziness, a fast heartbeat, or breathlessness. Untreated or severe anaemia can make it harder to cope with blood loss at birth and may affect pregnancy wellbeing. The cause may be iron deficiency or another condition, so testing guides care.

Attend blood tests and take prescribed iron therapy in the form and schedule advised. Tell your clinician about nausea, constipation, dark stools, or difficulty taking it, because the plan may need adjusting. Include iron-containing foods alongside a varied pregnancy diet, but do not start high-dose supplements without advice. Your team may repeat blood tests to check whether haemoglobin is responding and look for another cause if it is not.

Seek urgent help for fainting, chest pain, severe breathlessness at rest, a racing heartbeat that does not settle, confusion, or marked weakness. During pregnancy, contact your maternity team promptly for reduced fetal movement once movements are established, vaginal bleeding, or feeling acutely unwell. These symptoms need assessment rather than being attributed to anaemia alone.

Ask what type of anaemia you have, how low haemoglobin is affecting your care, when to repeat testing, how to take iron with fewer side effects, and what plan is in place for labour and recovery.