After giving birth at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital six months ago, you find your ferritin sitting at 18. The advice you get is to take oral iron, which can be ineffective due to absorption issues. This leaves you worrying about the hair you’re losing in the shower while you’re busy squeezing onto the F train or idling in BQE traffic on a daily basis.
Postpartum women or those with heavy menstruation often fall under the so-called “ferritin gray zone," which shows iron stores of between 15 and 30 ng/mL, seemingly normal blood work, and symptoms like exhaustion, hair shedding, and brain fog. After a Mount Sinai Brooklyn or Brooklyn Methodist delivery, oral iron might not be enough to treat these deficiency symptoms.
Across Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, and Park Slope, OBs flagging low ferritin during patient appointments also do not have infusion capabilities within their offices for prompt intervention.
A trip to an infusion suite at Brooklyn Methodist, Mount Sinai Brooklyn, or Maimonides Medical Center can mean losing half your day to a combination of BQE traffic or subways, garage parking, and waiting rooms. Visits can be hard to manage, especially with a newborn. Oral iron, a possible alternative, tends to come with side effects such as constipation and stomach cramps while taking months to provide symptom relief.