A primipara patient asks the nurse the etiology of her physiological anemia. The nurse replied that in physiologic anemia of pregnancy, a lower hemoglobin and hematocrit is due to:

(THIS IS A SATA QUESTION PLEASE CHOOSE ALL OF THE CORRECT ANSWER)

Explanation

•To provide an adequate exchange of nutrients in the placenta and to compensate for blood loss at birth, the circulatory blood volume of the woman’s body increases at least 30% during pregnancy.

•The increase in blood volume occurs gradually near the end of the first trimester. It peaks at about the 28th to the 32nd week and continues at this high level through the third trimester. As the plasma volume first increases, the concentration of hemoglobin and erythrocytes may decline, giving the woman a pseudoanemia.

•The fetus requires 350 to 450 mg of iron to grow. The increases in the mother’s circulatory red blood cell mass requires an additional 400 mg of iron. Iron absorption may be impaired during pregnancy as a result of decreased gastric acidity, additional iron is often prescribed during pregnancy to prevent true anemia.

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