What is iron, what’s its role in pregnancy and why is it important to understand? This episode is a comprehensive conversation about iron and pregnancy. Our guest Dr. Matt Angove, naturopathic physician and creator of Dr. Wholeness, shares a ton of knowledge with us on the topic of iron and specifically ferritin levels. Here are some of the questions we address: What is iron and what role does it serve in the body? What makes iron important during pregnancy? Do needs change for preconception and/or postpartum as well? What’s ferritin and how does it factor in with this conversation? How to check for these levels? How to optimize the levels? Why does most iron cause side effects like stomach pain, constipation or nausea? Can you take too much? Why can that be a problem? How to take iron for maximum absorption and effectiveness? Iron in a prenatal vs. iron supplement?  We also chat with Dr. Matt about home birth, as he and his wife Ama had 5 of their children at home (with twins included in that count!). This episode is sponsored by Dr. Wholeness – an online community that provides tips, tools, and resources to help people create a winning health routine by accumulating health – one habit at a time. You can learn more about Dr. Wholeness on the website https://drwholeness.com/ and find the product Blood Vitality at https://bit.ly/3IXEHJS (use the code BloodVitality15 for 15% off your purchase).  Links: Dr. Wholeness Website: https://drwholeness.com/ Blood Vitality - use the code BloodVitality15 for 15% off your purchase: https://bit.ly/3IXEHJS Optimize Iron Website: https://optimizeiron.com/ Dr. Wholeness Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drwholeness/ More links and resources: Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU DIAH website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe  Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices