Prenatal vitamins contain vitamins and minerals in quantities appropriate for pregnant and breast-feeding women. You might wonder whether you have to take prenatal vitamins if you're pregnant -- the answer is, not necessarily. There are also some other circumstances under which prenatal vitamins might benefit you, even if you're not currently pregnant.
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins consist of many of the same vitamins and minerals you'd find in a daily multivitamin supplement meant for non-pregnant women. The major difference between a prenatal vitamin and a regular multivitamin supplement is composition -- prenatals have larger amounts of certain key nutrients. Specifically, explain Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their book "You: Having A Baby," prenatals are very high in folic acid and in iron.
Why Take Prenatals
If you're pregnant, you can benefit from prenatal vitamins because you need plenty of vitamins and minerals to support your changing needs and those of your developing embryo. The extra iron in prenatals helps you increase your blood volume, while the folic acid supports your baby's neural development. If you're breast-feeding, you may benefit from prenatals particularly in the six to eight weeks post-delivery because of the increasing demands milk production places on your body.
Alternatives
While most women take prenatal vitamins during pregnancy -- and most obstetricians prefer that they do so -- you may not actually have to take special prenatal vitamins as long as you're supplementing your diet in other ways. Some women use a regular multivitamin throughout pregnancy, taking additional iron and folic acid in the form of separate supplements to ensure that they're getting the 800 to 1,000 micrograms of folic acid and 27 mg of iron recommended during pregnancy.
Other Considerations
You may also wish to start taking prenatal vitamins if you're actively trying to conceive. This helps ensure that you have plenty of vitamins and minerals in your system from the beginning of your pregnancy, explains Dr. Miriam Stoppard in her book "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth." If you're not pregnant or breast-feeding and aren't actively trying to conceive, however, you don't need prenatals, and are better off with a regular multivitamin.
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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