Even if you plan on eating healthy during pregnancy, you still need the best prenatal vitamins you can find. This will help give you and your baby all the important nutrients you both need during this time. It is a good idea to start prenatal vitamins when you are trying to conceive a baby all the way through pregnancy. This will give you extra folic acid, iron, and other things that are not found in regular vitamins.
Why Is It Necessary to Take Prenatal Vitamins?
If you are planning to have a baby, remember you will be building another human being. From scratch! This means you need to get all the important nutrients stored up in your body. One very important reason is very early on in pregnancy, before you even know you are pregnant your baby’s neural tube and spinal cord begin to develop. Not having enough folic acid on board can cause birth defects in this area. The best prenatal vitamins have enough folic acid to help prevent these defects.
Another important reason is that you will be building up a blood supply for two. Getting enough iron will help your baby grow and develop and prevent you from getting anemic in pregnancy.
Lastly, researchers believe that taking prenatal vitamins can reduce low birth weight in babies.
When to Take Prenatal Vitamins
If you were wondering “When should I start taking prenatal vitamins,” the answer is about three months prior to attempting conception. Your eggs will start to mature as early as three months before you ovulate. You will need to build up stores of important vitamins and nutrients for healthy eggs and a healthy conception.
Birth defects in the neural tube usually take place 4 to 6 weeks into your pregnancy. This is often before you even know you are pregnant. If you have a suspicion that you are pregnant and have not been using prenatal vitamins, start as soon as possible. It is important not to wait until you have seen a doctor, because first appointments can take a while to get in to see the doctor. If you wait, you may already be past this stage of development.
Prenatal vitamins need to be taken from three months before conception and all during your pregnancy. If you decide to breastfeed, you should continue your prenatal vitamins while you are breastfeeding.
Best Prenatal Vitamins to Take
Now that you know when to start taking prenatal vitamins, you need to know what is in the best prenatal vitamins to help you make a choice which one to use. As for which brand, the choice is yours. The best ones contain the following:
- Folic Acid – 400mcg to 800mcg
- Calcium – 250 mg
- Iron – 30 mg
- Vitamin C – 30 mg
- Zinc – 15mg
- Copper – 2mg
- Vitamin B6 – 2mg
- Vitamin D – 400 IU
These nutrients are also recommended by experts:
- Thiamine – 3mg
- Riboflavin – 2mg
- Niacin – 20mg
- Vitamin B12 – 6mcg
- Vitamin E – 10mg
- Zinc – 15mg
- Iodine – 150mcg
Make sure you get enough iodine to help your baby’s thyroid develop. Zinc and manganese can increase your fertility if you are trying to conceive and getting enough vitamin B6 reduces morning sickness symptoms.
Even if you get the best prenatal vitamins, they are never a replacement for eating a proper diet. They never meet 100% of what minerals and vitamins you should be getting from food. You still need to eat very healthy when trying to conceive and during pregnancy. If your doctor thinks you need more than what you can get in an over-the-counter vitamin, they will write you a prescription for one.
Other Nutrients to Think About
Prenatal vitamins may not contain enough vitamin D. Even if you are taking a prenatal vitamin with D you should still be using milk fortified with vitamin D, yogurt and other foods that have vitamin D. If you have an intolerance or distaste for milk products, you should talk to your doctor about a supplement to get the vitamin D and calcium that you will need during pregnancy.
Another important nutrient during pregnancy is Omega-3 fatty acids. These help build healthy brain cells in your baby. Omega-3 is found in certain types of fish, walnuts, and flax seeds. If you do not like these foods or cannot eat them, ask your doctor how you can get this nutrient during pregnancy. There are supplements available, but should not be used without your doctor knowing due to certain side-effects.
Tips for Taking the Best Prenatal Vitamins
- Get a tablet that dissolves well. Some vitamins have a coating that does not dissolve fast enough to be absorbed. Try to find one in tablet form without a coating for best absorption. On the other hand, if your prenatal vitamin upsets your stomach you may need the enteric coating.
- Try not to take too many supplements. Stick with the amounts your doctor recommends you take. Extra vitamins you don’t need will just get flushed out by your kidneys.
- Don’t take too much vitamin A, D, E, or K. These vitamins are actually toxic if you take too much. The best way to get enough of these nutrients is through diet.
- Dealing with side-effects. It is not uncommon to have an upset stomach after taking your prenatal vitamin. It helps to take it with a meal during the day or take it at bedtime. If the extra iron makes you constipated, try increasing; fluids, fiber, exercise or use a stool softener with your doctor’s permission. If side-effects are too much of an issue, your doctor may have you take another kind of vitamin.
Prenatal Nutrition Needs for Women with Alternative Diets
If you have an alternative diet such as vegan, vegetarian, have anemia, or other health issues you may need more vitamins than other people. Here are some situations where you may need more complex prenatal vitamins:
- If you are vegetarian or vegan. You may need more vitamin B12, zinc, iron and Omega-3 fatty acids if you do not eat meat or animal products. Try to get a prenatal vitamin that contains these vitamins and DHA that comes from algae, which is vegetarian/vegan. This will give you the Omega-3 fatty acids that normally comes from fish.
- If you have suffered from or are currently anemic. If you have ever been anemic or are anemic you may need an extra iron supplement, in addition to what is in your prenatal vitamins.
- History of neural tube defect. If you have had a baby with a neural tube defect (spinal bifida) or a history in the family, you may need to take more folic acid than what is in your prenatal vitamin. This comes in a prescription and is usually 4 mg or 4,000mcg.