Trigger Warning: This post discusses medical procedures and pregnancy loss/miscarriage
Today I wanted to talk about something that happened during my pregnancy with my baby boy.
I had an iron infusion during which my vein collapsed and the iron was pumped under my skin, causing significant iron staining across a large part of my arm.
This can be quite a common side effect of an iron infusion which is commonly given to pregnant women with a low iron count.
Before getting pregnant with my baby boy in 2022 I had two missed miscarriages.
After each, I continued bleeding for almost three months. I lost a lot of blood.
As you can imagine, when I finally got pregnant for a fourth time I was very scared about losing a third baby, so we booked a private scan at eight weeks for reassurance.
Thankfully, all was well and we saw a tiny heartbeat flickering on the screen.
My pregnancy was much easier than it had been with my daughter (which gave me a strong inkling it was a boy this time around!) with far less sickness although due to my age and some medical issues, I still had to take extra medication and have extra checkups.
One thing that my midwife flagged up was a low iron count and I believe this was down to the significant continued bleeding after my two pregnancy losses.
I tried taking iron tablets, but I would be sick within minutes of taking them. I tried taking them with food, but this delayed the vomiting by around twenty minutes.
Eventually, it was decided that the best way forward would be an iron infusion, where the iron I needed could be delivered directly into my bloodstream.
Having An Iron Infusion
Getting set up for the iron infusion felt like it took a long time.
The veins in both my hands and my arms are quite thin and I had to have a doctor come and insert the cannula and even then it still took several attempts.
Once the iron infusion was started into my left arm I was in a lot of pain. I mentioned this to the nurse and she said maybe it was being delivered too fast and slowed the rate at which it was being pumped into my bloodstream.
The pain was still pretty intense so I just lay with my eyes shut trying to breathe and get through it.
After around ten minutes I realised something wasn’t right. There was a huge orange swelling on my arm around the cannula.
I called for the nurse and she stopped the infusion. My vein had collapsed and the iron had been going under my skin rather than into my bloodstream.
A doctor was also called and they decided to continue with the infusion but place the cannula in my left arm instead.
Once set up in my other arm, everything was fine and there was zero pain this time, although we kept the iron infusion on the lowest setting, meaning it took over five hours to complete.
I think the fact it was causing me so much pain initially should have been a red flag to the nurse that something wasn’t right, as once everything was inserted correctly there was no pain at all, which is normal for this procedure.
As the day progressed the iron started to spread beneath my skin causing a large iron stain around my elbow.
I wasn’t warned at the hospital this could happen, but I was aware as I had been reading up about iron infusions before heading to the hospital.
Some hospitals will make you sign a disclaimer to say that you are aware staining could happen in rare cases.
The stain, in my case, was bright orange and looked like fake tan gone wrong! How it looks will of course depend on your skin tone and colour.
Iron Staining After Two Months
This is me a few days before I gave birth to my son, around two months after the iron infusion.
You can see the orange patch on my arm – it looks small here but does extend all the way around my arm and up.
Iron Staining After Eighteen Months
I read online that sometimes iron staining never goes away, but it’s been eighteen months now and the stain is quite faded and much less noticeable than it was last summer.
You can just about see the difference in skin tone but it looks much more natural, and I am very pleased my arm is no longer orange!
Thankfully, even when it was very noticeable no one ever actually asked about what it was which did help me feel less self-conscious.
Iron Infusion Stains – Final Thoughts
There is a lot to think about here.
Firstly, I am grateful for the NHS, that I could access this type of care when I needed it and that having an iron infusion helped to ensure both myself and my baby were well during the rest of my pregnancy.
Personally, I wasn’t hugely self-conscious about the iron staining, however, I realise it could be an issue for some women, especially if the way they look is part of their job.
I wanted to share my story and show pictures for anyone worried about having this procedure and to show that the staining does fade over time.
I am hoping that in a year or two the iron staining won’t be visible at all!
This was quite a personal post for me to write, so if you decide to comment, please be kind and respectful.