You may have heard conflicting information about prenatal vitamins. Some sources claim they're nearly essential to having a healthy pregnancy and baby, while others say that they're unnecessary. The truth is somewhere in the middle. In reality, vitamins and minerals are a crucial part of your pregnancy diet, but you don't necessarily need special "prenatal" vitamins.
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are, at their heart, just regular daily multivitamins with some specific ingredients present in higher amounts than you'd find a regular supplement. In particular, prenatal vitamins contain large quantities of iron and folic acid, explain Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their book "You: Having A Baby." The iron helps you increase your blood volume during pregnancy, while the folic acid ensures proper formation of a fetal structure that becomes the brain and spinal cord.
Using Supplements
Whether you actually need a supplement during pregnancy is a matter for you to discuss with your obstetrician. While many women find that they do better if they take vitamin and mineral supplements, others get all the nutrients they need from a balanced diet. In general, however, your obstetrician is most likely to prescribe a prenatal or other vitamin and mineral supplement if you are significantly underweight, don't eat a balanced diet, or have severe morning sickness and can't keep food down.
Alternatives
If you decide to use a supplement, you have the option of a prescription or over-the-counter specialty "prenatal" vitamin. This will contain pregnancy-specific quantities of all the vitamins and minerals you need. Alternately, however, you may wish to use a regular daily multivitamin and supplement with extra folic acid and iron. You should be getting 27 mg of iron each day, and 800-1,000 mcg of folic acid, explains Dr. Miriam Stoppard in her book "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth."
Drawbacks
There are two drawbacks to specialty prenatal vitamins, despite the convenience of having all your supplements in a single pill. First, they generally don't -- or at least shouldn't -- contain calcium. The body can't absorb iron and calcium efficiently at the same time. As such, you'll need to take a separate calcium supplement at a different time of day. Additionally, the iron in prenatals can cause digestive upset, including nausea and constipation. With your doctor's approval, you may wish to use a lower-iron pill if you have severe symptoms.
References
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
- "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth"; Miriam Stoppard, M.D.; 2008
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