Thal Minor and recovery after giving birth?

Hi everyone, I'm new here so I don't know my way around yet. I have a question that I have never received an acceptable answer for. I was diagnosed with thal minor during pregnancy, and my iron was kind of low the whole time, but nothing the Dr was worried about. I had a healthy pregnancy and normal birth, and my DS is absolutely fine. My husband does not carry the trait so it's my understanding that our children will be fine. However, my question has to do with recovering from childbirth. It took me about a month to feel like I could take a walk. I felt very weak and achy, even though I was "fine". Everyone told me that it takes a while to feel better after giving birth, but it doesn't seem like my recovery was typical. I got to wondering if maybe it had to do with the thal minor, and the blood lost during birth.

I ask mostly because I plan on having another child some day, and I wonder what can be done if my symptoms were due to the thal minor. Anyone know anything about this?

Hemoglobin levels for all women tend to drop during pregnancy, but with thal minor, you are often already starting with a lower normal Hb level, so in general, minors will end pregnancy with a lower Hb level than non-thals. What I suggest is make sure you are taking a high dose of folic acid during the pregnancy, of at least 2 mg daily. This helps to build red blood cells and will help to keep your Hb level a but higher and hopefully also shorten the recovery period. Keep in mind that each pregnancy is different and the amount of blood loss varies, so there is a limit to what you can do to help yourself.

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense. Would low Hb contribute to the kind of symptoms I was experiencing?

I am going through post partum right now and I am wondering how to speed up the process. I am 5 days post and had a wonderful homebirth. My levels were checked every month and never went below 9.0. I take 1.2 mg of folic acid. My hemo didn't recommend I take more. He actually only told me to take 1 mg.  I too have been achy all over my body and out of breath from doing very little. I know my body is going through lots of changes right now. I am encapuslating my placenta. I will have it by Friday and it's supposed to speed recovery.  I'm hoping it works!  Any other advice/ tips out there?   I take a multi, a b-complex, and 2000iu-3000iu a day of vitamin D.