Whether you're pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to conceive or none of these, you may be a little confused about what prenatal vitamins are and whether you need them. Used correctly, prenatals are an important part of your health care regimen, but not everyone should be taking them, because they're specially formulated for specific groups.
Prenatal Vitamins
While you might think that prenatal vitamins contain a number of special ingredients--because they're so expensive over the counter and because they're often prescribed by doctors--they actually have much in common with regular multivitamins. They do, however, have particularly large quantities of folic acid and iron in them. Developing embryos need folic acid to form the neural tube, which becomes the brain and spinal cord, explain Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their book "You: Having A Baby." Iron helps you produce extra red blood cells.
Who Needs Prenatals
If you're pregnant, the odds are that your obstetrician will recommend that you take prenatal vitamins, either by prescription or over the counter. This is because not only can the folic acid prevent birth defects in babies and the iron prevent anemia in pregnant women, the other vitamins and minerals provide insurance against nutritional deficiencies. You may also need to take prenatal vitamins while you're breastfeeding, depending upon the recommendations of your obstetrician. Finally, some doctors advise women who are trying to conceive to start on prenatals preemptively.
If You Don't Want To Buy Prenatals
If you need prenatals but don't like the hefty price tag, you might ask your doctor whether you could use a regular multivitamin instead, supplementing with additional folic acid and additional iron. You need 1,000 micrograms of folic acid each day, explain Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel in their book "What To Expect When You're Expecting," and 27 mg of iron. These quantities are larger than those in regular multivitamins, but by supplementing a multivitamin with additional folic acid and iron, you can get the benefits of a prenatal, provided your obstetrician is comfortable with the idea.
If You're Not Pregnant
If you're not pregnant, there's no reason you should be taking prenatal vitamins--assuming you're neither breastfeeding nor trying to conceive. Prenatals, contrary to popular belief, don't give you a glowing complexion, healthy nails or fast-growing hair. Instead, if you're not pregnant, they won't do anything for you that a regular multivitamin can't do, and they'll cost quite a bit more. They're not unsafe, assuming you're otherwise healthy, notes Katherine Zeratsky for MayoClinic.com, but there's simply no benefit to using them.
References
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
- "What to Expect When You're Expecting"; Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel; 2008
- MayoClinic.com: Prenatal Vitamins
Member Comments