Prenatal vitamins aren't a "magic bullet" for getting pregnant quickly, but they can help ensure that you're in good health and aren't nutritionally deficient. This can increase your chances of conceiving and successfully navigating the early weeks of pregnancy, which are the weeks during which miscarriage is most likely to occur.
Early Pregnancy
Very early pregnancy--the period of time between conception and four to six weeks of gestation--is a particularly sensitive period for a developing embryo. There are many reasons an early pregnancy can fail, many of them genetic and unavoidable. Still, optimizing your nutrition before you attempt to conceive can help you and your embryo make it through these first few weeks, which is one reason prenatal vitamins may be helpful during your attempt to conceive.
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins share much in common with typical daily multivitamins, except that they contain vitamins and minerals in quantities appropriate for pregnant women, explain Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their book "You: Having A Baby." For instance, prenatal vitamins have high levels of iron compared to typical women's multivitamins. They also have large quantities of folic acid. Most other vitamins and minerals appear in quantities similar to those in regular multivitamins.
Folic Acid
Of the components of prenatal vitamins, the one most critical to early pregnancy is folic acid, which your embryo uses to produce the neural tube. The neural tube goes on to become the brain and spinal cord, explains Dr. Miriam Stoppard in her book "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth." For a successful early pregnancy, most obstetricians recommend that you start taking supplemental folic acid before you become pregnant, since the neural tube typically forms before you realize you've conceived.
General Guidelines
Stated simply, prenatal vitamins can't increase your chances of conceiving, unless you have some remarkable nutritional deficiencies in your diet without the vitamins. They can, however, improve your chances of a successful implantation and early pregnancy. Since early pregnancy events take place before you even realize you've conceived, this can make it feel as though the prenatals have helped you conceive a child. If you aren't sure whether you should consider pre-conception prenatals, your obstetrician can help you make that determination.
References
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
- "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth"; Miriam Stoppard, M.D.; 2008
Member Comments