Recent research has prompted many prenatal vitamins to include DHA. Docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, is a long chain, unsaturated, Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish. Since pregnant women are not recommended to eat fish due to mercury toxicity risk, they may not be getting enough DHA. DHA makes up the building blocks for many tissues, including the brain, heart, central nervous system and eyes of a growing baby. Prenatal vitamins can be a good source of DHA to ensure optimal nutrition during pregnancy.
Promise Prenatal
Promise Prenatal offers a three-stage approach by targeting each phase of pregnancy. Designed by physicians and nutrition experts, Promise Prenatal comes in a small absorbable capsule, accompanied by a DHA soft gel. Stage one is based on recommendations for the first trimester and just before, with lower iron and higher B6 for morning sickness. Stage two provides the dietary reference index (DRI) requirements for pregnant women, including higher Vitamin C, calcium and magnesium for rapid growth. Extra iron is added for avoiding anemia as blood volume increases. Stage three meets the DRI requirements for postnatal nutrition, breastfeeding and recovery. All three formulas include 800 micrograms of folate and 275 milligrams of DHA.
Duet DHA
"Where one heart becomes two" is the slogan of this prescription only prenatal vitamin. The manufacturer claims to offer the right amount of folic acid in a very bioavailable form. Ferrazone is the name of their trademarked iron supplement, which is said to be gentler on the stomach. Some iron supplements, such as elemental iron, can cause nausea and constipation. Duet DHA provides an enteric-coated, purified DHA in a 440 milligram essential fatty acid blend. It does not indicate how much of the blend is DHA, only that the fish oil has been purified to exclude any mercury. The downside of prescription only products, such as Duet DHA, is that they tend to carry a hefty price. Many of the non-prescription products may be equal in quality at a much lower price.
Maxi Prenatal
Country Life offers Maxi Prenatal Veg Caps, which are both vegetarian and kosher. The prenatal vitamin and mineral supplement delivers 1,000 micrograms of folic acid per serving. With 300 milligrams of Vitamin C and 800 milligrams of calcium, Maxi Prenatal is a very complete multivitamin. This product contains retinyl palmitate, so be sure to avoid other synthetic sources of Vitamin A that can cause harm to your baby in large amounts. In addition, Maxi Prenatal contains 18 milligrams of iron as well as ginger, red raspberry leaf, citrus bioflavanoids, and 100 milligrams of DHA. Neuromins DHA is a high quality natural source of the Omega-3 fatty acid.
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