If you're interested in becoming pregnant, you've no doubt wondered whether it's a good idea to start prenatal vitamins before your pregnancy begins. While prenatal vitamins won't magically help you conceive, there are certain vitamins that help create a good environment for conception and provide for early embryonic health.
Significance
Prenatal vitamins differ in some ways from a normal multivitamin, and they're tailored to the specific needs of pregnant women and their unborn babies. If you're trying to conceive and are interested in maintaining good pre-conception health, you've probably wondered whether a pregnancy vitamin is right for you. Some aspects of pregnancy vitamins will help ensure a healthy early pregnancy, while others aren't likely to help--and might even be detrimental to the health of a non-pregnant woman.
Features
Prenatal vitamins include many normal multivitamin ingredients, with a few key vitamins and minerals in higher concentration than normal. One such vitamin is folic acid, which you'll need plenty of if you're trying to get pregnant. Folic acid helps your developing embryo to form the neural tube, which goes on to become the spinal cord and column, explains Dr. Miriam Stoppard in her book "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth." Getting lots of folic acid before pregnancy ensures adequate supplies during pregnancy.
Considerations
Another key feature of prenatal vitamins is iron, a mineral that you'll need during pregnancy--especially during the second and third trimester--in much higher quantities than you do when not pregnant. The quantities of iron in prenatal vitamins are too high for non-pregnant women. They don't do any good, and actually cause stomach upset and digestive trouble in many women, explains Dr. Stoppard. For this reason, it's best to avoid high-iron prenatals until after you're pregnant.
Benefits
As long as a prenatal vitamin doesn't contain excessive amounts of iron, it's fine to begin taking one while you're trying to conceive. In fact, it's a very good idea to ensure optimal vitamin and mineral consumption in the weeks and months leading up to pregnancy, especially where pregnancy-specific vitamins like folic acid are concerned. In his book "What You Didn't Think To Ask Your Obstetrician," Dr. Raymond Poliakin points out that good pre-conception health leads to good early pregnancy health.
Expert Insight
Prenatal vitamins, because they're specialty vitamins, are very expensive. Dr. Poliakin notes that, until you're pregnant and your obstetrician recommends otherwise, it's probably just as effective to take a daily adult multivitamin and a folic acid supplement. Women trying to conceive should get 800 to 1,000mcg of folic acid a day, which is more than most multivitamins contain. By avoiding the high cost of prenatal vitamins during the conception months, you can save money for when the specialty vitamins really count.
References
- "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth"; Miriam Stoppard, M.D.; 2008
- "What You Didn't Think to Ask Your Obstetrician"; Raymond Poliakin, M.D.; 2007
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