Once you've made the decision to conceive, you may be hoping to get pregnant as fast as possible. While there's no "silver bullet" that will ensure you become pregnant in a timely manner, making sure that you're healthy can certainly increase your chances of conceiving. Prenatal vitamins are one way to help promote timely conception.
Conception
If you're trying to conceive, several things need to happen. First, your body needs to produce a viable egg, and that egg needs to meet up with a viable sperm during a relatively short window of time. Then, the developing embryo needs to survive its journey to the uterus and implant in the uterine lining. Finally, the embryo must survive the early stages of development. It's quite common for fertilized eggs to fail to implant, or for early embryos to miscarry before a woman even knows she's pregnant--these events interfere with becoming sustainably pregnant.
Role of Nutrition
While you can't "make" yourself get pregnant through what you eat or which supplements you choose to take, you can help ensure that you're providing a good uterine environment for a developing embryo, and that you have plenty of the building blocks that an early embryo needs in your system. Eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of vitamins aids in successful conception, implantation and early embryo development, explains Dr. Miriam Stoppard in her book "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth."
Prenatal Vitamins
Whether you should take prenatal vitamins or a regular daily multivitamin prior to conception is something you should discuss with your obstetrician. Some doctors feel that prenatals are a good idea while you're trying to conceive, while others recommend regular multivitamins, plus a folic acid supplement. The extra folic acid is particularly important, explain Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their book "You: Having A Baby," because your early embryo uses it for formation of the structure that will later become the brain.
Safety
While prenatal vitamins are formulated specifically for pregnant women--they have quantities of iron at 150 percent of what a non-pregnant woman needs, for instance--they won't hurt you as you try to conceive, explains dietitian Katherine Zeratsky writing for MayoClinic.com. In general, however, the vitamins are quite expensive compared to regular multivitamins plus a folic acid supplement. For this reason, because you don't need the extra iron to help you conceive, you may wish to hold off on the prenatals until you're actually pregnant.
References
- "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth"; Miriam Stoppard, M.D.; 2008
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
- MayoClinic.com: Prenatal vitamins: OK for women who aren't pregnant?
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