**5.3 Oral supplements**

In pregnancy, once women are subjected to iron deficiency anemia (IDA), it is very difficult to correct iron deficiency anemia through dietary changes alone. Therefore, oral supplements are necessary to replenish iron deficiency. An effective, inexpensive, and safe way to ensure replenish of iron is oral iron [46]. The inefficiency of absorption or iron ferrous salts show only marginal differences between each other. Ferrous fumarate, ferrous sulphate, and ferrous gluconate are the available ferrous salts. Serum ferritin should be checked in women with known haemoglobinopathy. If the ferritin ˂30 μg/l then women should offer therapeutic iron [45]. If it is possible women should avoid proton pump inhibitors because they decrease the production of gastric juice. Gastric juice helps with iron absorption by converting the ferric to ferrous salt. But in some cases, oral iron is not tolerated and patients may develop side effects like nausea, abdominal pain, and epigastric discomfort.
