You delivered at UCSF Medical Center or CPMC Van Ness Campus six months ago. Your ferritin came back at 18 at your six-week visit. Your OB said “try oral iron.” You’re still running SFUSD drop-offs, your partner is stuck on the 101 or crammed onto BART every morning, and your hair is coming out in the shower.
Most San Francisco women we see are postpartum or dealing with years of heavy cycles. They end up in the ferritin "gray zone". Iron stores between 15 and 30 ng/mL, where bloodwork looks normal but exhaustion is real. Hair sheds. Nails split. Brain fog makes it hard to finish a sentence. Many women experience postpartum hair loss after a UCSF Medical Center or CPMC Van Ness Campus delivery that oral iron alone doesn't resolve.
Many local OBs in San Francisco, Pacific Heights, and Noe Valley flag low ferritin at the postpartum checkup but don’t offer in-office infusions.
Oral iron takes three to six months to work. If you can tolerate the stomach cramps and constipation. A UCSF or CPMC infusion suite visit means half a day: fighting Van Ness or Mission Bay traffic each way, scheduling delays, garage parking, waiting rooms. Hard to manage with a newborn at home.