What Are Good Prenatal Vitamins For Pregnancy

Is It Necessary To Take A Prescription Prenatal Vitamin

Prescription prenatals typically contain more folic acid than the over-the-counter varieties, says Wright. But not all moms need the extra dose. One caveat: If youve already given birth to a baby with neural tube defects, your doctor will likely start you on a prescription supplement of folic acid, says Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., a clinical professor in the department of OB/GYN at the Yale School of Medicine.

In general, over-the-counter prenatals are more than able to cover your nutritional bases just talk to your doctor about which formula is right for you.

One other note here: If cost is a concern to you and you have a good drug plan with your insurance company, you may actually want to ask your doctor about prescription prenatals they may actually be cheaper than OTC options.

Best Prenatal Vitamin Options For Moms

The Best Prenatal Vitamin Options for Moms will contain the necessary nutrients for a healthy pregnancy and the growing baby. While prenatal vitamins are available in powder form, liquid in a capsule, and gummy forms, there are certain factors to consider when choosing one. Some women may be sensitive to fishy flavors, and if you are, you should look for a different prenatal vitamin option. Regardless of the form, it is important to ensure you are getting enough B vitamins to meet your dietary requirements.

The Best Prenatal Vitamin Options for Moms should be easily absorbed by moms and babies and should be able to help minimize morning sickness. These vitamin supplements can be purchased in a pill, soft-gel capsule, or gummy form. A pill may be more difficult for some women to swallow, but gummies are easier to digest. The best options will also have iron, which is especially important during pregnancy.

Best Prenatal Vitamin Options For Moms

Taking a daily prenatal vitamin is beneficial for a new mom. Many brands offer a range of benefits, including lower prices, convenience, and taste. The Best Prenatal Vitamin Options for Moms are the ones that provide all the essential nutrients that a mother needs, so its important to do your research before choosing the one that is right for you. Fortunately, there are a few options for pregnant women.

How We Chose The Products On This List

We personally tested many brands of different prenatal vitamins throughout various stages of conception and pregnancy. We also drew on past personal experiences with issues such as nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and investigated common concerns and complaints with prenatal vitamins among pregnant women, like bad taste and smell.

We read the current scientific literature and consulted with medical professionals as well. The doctors quoted throughout this piece include three different OB-GYNs as well as a registered dietitian who reviewed product selections and consulted with us on what to look for, as well as what to avoid, in prenatal vitamins.

When considering various options, we looked for:

You May Like: How Long Does It Take To Restore Vitamin D Levels

Varieties Of Prenatal Vitamins

There are numerous types of prenatal vitamins. Prior to purchasing one, it is a good idea to discuss your particular needs with your physician. Many prenatal vitamin formulas can be taken while you are pregnant and during breast-feeding. These multivitamins have a unique balance of proteins and folic acid that is vital to proper milk production in mothers who have just given birth. Vegetarian prenatal vitamins have also been developed for the mother who doesn’t eat meat or animal products and wishes to start her child off on a vegetarian diet.

*The total item count is approximate. The count will be inaccurate when sponsored products are displayed, when multiple sizes or colors of a product are grouped on a single product card, and when the in-stock filter is applied.

What Do The Best Prenatal Vitamins Have In Common

Most prenatal vitamin brands are sold as a one-a-day multivitamin or pregnancy supplement, containing all the vitamins and minerals your body needs during pregnancy.

The best prenatal vitamins tend to include:

• Folic acid: A form of vitamin B9, folic acid is essential for preventing pregnancy complications. This nutrient helps the brain and spinal cord develop properly, reducing the risk of serious birth differences.

• Vitamin D: Nicknamed the sunshine vitamin because your skin naturally produces it when exposed to sunlight, vitamin D is essential in pregnancy. Why? Because it helps your babys bones, teeth, heart, kidneys, and nervous system develop.

• Vitamin C: During pregnancy, vitamin C is vital for you and your babys health. As well as helping with tissue repair and wound healing, vitamin C also helps your babys teeth and bones to develop.

• Iron: When youre pregnant, you need twice the amount of iron that non-pregnant women need. Your body needs iron to make more blood to supply the correct levels of oxygen to your baby.

• Calcium: Since your baby takes this essential mineral from your bones as it grows, its a good idea to take calcium during your pregnancy.

• Docosahexaenoic acid : An Omega-3 fatty acid, DHA can help your babys brain growth and development. There are many prenatal vitamins with DHA on the market today. Check the label to make sure its there.

Consuming liver and liver products should also be avoided, as they contain high amounts of vitamin A.

You May Like: How Much Does A Vitamin C Iv Cost

Prenatal Vitamins After Pregnancy

You can continue to take prenatal vitamins after your pregnancy. After giving birth, your body needs help restoring tissues and cells, and prenatal vitamins help with just that. They also support your weakened immune system, help with the massive blood loss, and help with breastfeeding by providing enough calcium and iron.

Your doctor may recommend a separate iron supplement to boost your levels of iron. If that is the case, you will also want to increase your fiber intake or take a stool softener as iron can cause constipation.

How To Choose Prenatal Vitamins For Men

Although there isnt conclusive evidence that prenatal vitamins for men can raise the quality of sperm or reduce congenital anomalies, it would be logical to assume that they have some beneficial effects.

Make sure that the multivitamin contains all the nutrients that I talked about. Thats it!

Mens Daily Multimineral by Vimerson Health is an excellent example and also sold on Amazon.

Its a great product as it contains all the mentioned vitamins. You also get zinc , which is perfect. The recommended daily dose for Zn is over 10mg, and its quite hard to get that amount from regular food. The deficiency of Zn can cause sterility, which means this micronutrient is essential when it comes to having children.

Its worth noting that all multivitamins contain stuff that you probably dont need. Vitamins B2-5 are easy to get from food, for example. That said, your body can temporarily adjust to higher doses of some nutrients and so a short-term intake is unlikely to cause health problems.

Recommended Reading: What Is Vitamin D 2

Q Is It Possible To Consume More Folic Acid Than Is Recommended

Folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin, which means that any excess you ingest will be excreted. In principle, this means that exceeding the RDAs for folic acid is not harmful. A high level of folic acid, on the other hand, might hide B12 deficiency by masking its symptoms, which can be progressively detrimental in the long term. As a result, health organizations such as the World Health Organization advise against exceeding the recommended folic acid upper intake limit of 1000mcg per day.

The Importance Of Prenatal Nutrition

Meeting your daily nutrient needs during pregnancy is necessary to keep up with your rapidly changing maternal metabolism.

Of course, maternal nutrition is essential for healthy fetal growth and development. In fact, theres growing research that suggests the effects of prenatal nutrition can trickle into adulthood.

For that reason, its important to learn about necessary vitamins for pregnant women, as well as additional supplement and macronutrient needs.

Recommended Reading: Where Can I Buy Vitamin B

Q When Should One Discontinue Taking Prenatal Vitamins

Although they are referred to as prenatal vitamins, there are some reasons to continue consuming them after giving birth. Although you are nursing, you are growing a baby on the exterior even if you are not creating the baby inside you.

If you are nursing, continue to take your prenatal vitamins, as your body will use the additional nutrients to provide milk for your child. This way, you will be able to replenish any stockpiles that were depleted during your pregnancy.

It is suggested that you discontinue taking them once you have finished nursing and return to a regular vitamin. Taking them for longer may seem like a great idea, but the high amounts of vitamin levels may cause more damage than benefit or could contribute to overdose.

However, if you are actively attempting to have another child, this is the exception. You should consult your doctor, but you may typically continue with your vitamin regimen if you want to conceive again.

Nature Made Prenatal Multivitamin

Ingredients: The Nature Made Prenatal contains essential vitamins and minerals, including folic acid, calcium, iron and vitamin D. These vitamins provide 200 milligrams of DHA to support fetal brain and eye development, making them ideal for pregnant women and women trying to get pregnant.

What we like: Nature Made Prenatal multivitamins are free of preservatives, synthetic dyes and gluten, and the company states its Prenatal Multi + DHA multivitamin is clinically proven for absorption into the body.

What to consider: While these prenatal vitamins offer complete prenatal multivitamin support, they do have a strong smell that many LuckyVitamin reviewers found unpleasant or fishy.

Read Also: What Fruit Or Vegetable Has The Most Vitamin D

Benefits Of Taking Prenatal Vitamins

Here are some of the benefits of taking prenatals:

• Provides nutrients despite your appetite . The first tri is always a doozy. When we werent constantly nauseous, the only things we could stomach were carbs, carbs, and more carbs. Give us all the french fries, plz but actually dont, because if we see that much food at one time, were gonna vom. So, despite the roller coaster that is your appetite during pregnancy, your prenatal provides a consistent and reliable source of nutrients.
• Helps prevent health concerns in baby. Weve already talked about folate and developmental issues for a fetus, but there are other health concerns caused by a lack of nutrients too although their cause may be a bit harder to pinpoint in some cases, after the baby is born. Regardless, it provides what your baby needs to keep them growing.
• Keeps your body healthy while baby grows. Growing a baby is demanding, and when the placenta finds itself a little short of something, it will just straight up take that from the birthing parents body to make sure the little one gets what it needs. A prenatal helps ensure that youve got what you need and babys got what they need. Optimizing the mothers nutritional status with key micronutrients is critical to ensuring her body is resilient during and after pregnancy, Swick explains.

How Do You Promote A Healthy Pregnancy In Tandem With A Prenatal Vitamin

First, it must be repeated that diet should be the primary source of nutrients and prioritized as such. Healthy whole foods like vegetables and fruit contain much more than just the common vitamins and minerals we all know about, explains Marlowe. They also contain powerful antioxidants and beneficial phytochemicals that work synergistically to support our health, as well as fiber which aids digestion. Additionally, keeping blood sugar stable is especially important during pregnancy. Nausea can be caused by low blood sugar, so protein, whether organic animal protein or plant-based, is important, says Marlowe. Make sure you have enough, especially at night, to help balance blood sugar.

Also Check: Is Vitamin D Bad For Kidneys

The Best Vitamins To Take While Pregnant

Gaby Vaca-Flores, RDN, CLE, shares recommended vitamins to take while pregnant. Plus: additional supplements for a healthy pregnancy, other prenatal nutritional needs, and vitamins to avoid during pregnancy.

Is it safe to take vitamins during pregnancy? How about while breastfeeding?

These are two of the most common questions that dietitians get from expectant and new mothers. Its no secret that proper nourishment can better optimize your pre and postnatal care. But exactly which vitamins and supplements should you take during pregnancy?

In this article, were bringing things back to science-backed basics. When it comes to supplements and pregnancy, heres the information you need to have a safe and healthy term.*

*This information should not be used in lieu of professional medical advice. Always follow guidance from your OB-GYN and/or primary care physician.

Is It Okay To Take Gummy Prenatal Vitamins

Yes, especially if you have trouble swallowing pills or you cant stomach a horse-sized capsule without triggering another bout of morning sickness.

But there are some drawbacks to prenatal gummies . In general, gummies contain fewer nutrients than the prenatals that come in pill form, says Hillary Wright, R.D., director of nutrition at the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health at Boston IVF oftentimes, theyre also lacking iron.

Recommended Reading: Does Vitamin C Cause Heartburn

Smarty Pants Prenatal Formula Gummies

If you have trouble swallowing pills, a gummy prenatal vitamin might be a good option for you. Smarty Pants’ prenatal gummy vitamin comes in four flavors, including lemon, strawberry, orange, and banana, and has most of the recommended vitamins and minerals, though in smaller amounts.

You’ll need to chew four gummies a day to get a full dose, which is why a bottle has 120 gummies, or enough doses for 30 days. Smarty Pants prenatal gummies have a small amount of DHA but no iron or calcium, so plan on getting those minerals elsewhere in your diet.

Solimo Prenatal Vitamins & Dha

Why its great: These prenatal gummies are very candy-like. Theyre gummy, sweet, and have a sugary coating. Plus, youll get your average run of the mill prenatal vitamins that you need, but at a more affordable price as they are an Amazon brand. No fluffs, or specialty here, just a well balanced, prenatal multivitamin that tastes good. It covers all the bases of a prenatal multivitamin without adding thirty bucks to your next pharmacy bill.

Keep in mind: Like most gummy prenatal vitamins they do not have iron and are made from animal products, so I would not encourage this for vegetarians or women in need of iron.

Good for: Women of average health who do not need to spend extra money on a fancy prenatal vitamin.

You May Like: What Vitamins Boost Your Metabolism

Figure Out If You Can Stomach It

Once you choose your prenatal vitamin, you might find you have a tough time stomaching it. The most common reasons :

• If you have trouble swallowing it, look for a pill with a slicker coating. You may want to consider a pill sans calcium, since they tend to be smaller . If you do, be sure to talk to your practitioner to be sure you get enough of this essential mineral in other ways. You might also want to try a chewable or liquid prenatal vitamin .
• If your prenatal vitamin makes you feel nauseous, try taking your vitamin with a meal or snack or right before you go to bed. Still having trouble? Ask your doctor to recommend a different brand that you may be able to stomach better or one with more B6, which can curb nausea and morning sickness.
• If youve got constipation, diarrhea or gas, it could be the extra iron in your pill. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids, eat fiber-rich foods and include regular physical activity in your daily routine. If this doesnt relieve your stomach woes, talk to your doctor about alternatives .

What Are The Benefits Of Taking Prenatal Vitamins

Aside from aiding in your baby’s growth, particular supplements can lower the risk of certain conditions for both you and your baby. “Prenatal vitamins can help decrease your risk of nausea, birth defects, and preterm birth. These benefits are optimized when prenatal vitamins are started prior to conception,” says Dr. Woodus.

Supplemental folate , in particular, is very important. According to the CDC, it’s been shown to reduce neural tube defects in babies, which are conditions involving the baby’s brain and spine. Folic acid can also reduce the risk of autism spectrum disorders, research shows. When prenatal vitamins are taken three months before conception or during the first month of pregnancy, the risk of having a child with autism decreases even in genetically susceptible mothers and children, a study in the Journal of Epidemiology found.

Read Also: When To Start Giving Baby Vitamin D Drops

The Best Prenatal Vitamins

Choosing the top prenatal vitamin is about personal preferenceand doing a little research. Patients should read the labels to compare and bring the label to their doctors office if they have any questions, Twogood says. To help you get started, weve rounded up some of the best over-the-counter prenatal vitamins to consider. While some supplements may not meet all the nutrient recommendations, talk to your doctor about your primary needs and choose one that best addresses them.

This Nature Made prenatal vitamin covers the essentials youll need before and during pregnancy, complete with folic acid, calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin E, vitamin B12 and vitamin D3. Plus, softgel makes it easy to swallow and boosts absorption.

Buy it: Nature Made Prenatal Multi + DHA Softgels, $12,

Rainbow Lights prenatal vitamin takes its nutrients from food, with superfood additions like spirulina, red raspberry and ginger to aid digestion. Theres also vitamins A, C and iron for blood, bone, skin and immune health. An extra bonus: The vitamin is vegan and gluten-free, with natural ingredients.

Buy it: Rainbow Light Prenatal One Multivitamin Supplement, $15,

Pop two gummies a day for DHA, vitamins A and D, folic acid and as much Vitamin C as in 10 tangerines. Natural fruit flavors mean theyre tasty too. If youre gagging over your prenatal pill, gummies can be be a good alternativejust note that gummy vitamins tend not to have iron or calcium.