By the second trimester physiological changes occur in the pregnant women increasing her need for iron and predisposing her to anemia; a decrease in red blood cells. Red blood cells carries oxygen throughout the body and can cause maternal fatigue and tiredness and also have adverse effects on fetal growth, fetal brain development and low birth weight.
Eating iron rich foods helps produce more red blood cells. The increase in production of iron red cells can takes weeks so it is essential to have a constant supply of iron rich foods and not just sporadically throughout the.
Increasing iron supply can be done in many ways. Cooking in an iron cast skillet is one way, but buying a new skillet is expensive. Taking iron supplements can have undesirable side effects such as constipation and bloating. Eating iron rich foods can be an inexpensive way to increase red blood cell production with less side effects of supplements.
