A prenatal vitamin will help ensure that you are meeting all the essential nutritional requirements for sustaining a healthy pregnancy. Prenatal vitamins contain many types of components, including the B vitamins. The B family of vitamins performs diverse functions in the mother and in development of the new baby. Talk to your doctor if you are uncertain about your requirements of these essential compounds.
Vitamin B-9
Vitamin B-9 is more commonly referred to as folic acid. Folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects, serious birth defects that occur in the earliest days of pregnancy, usually before a women is aware that she has conceived. All women of child-bearing age should take a multivitamin containing 400 to 800 mcg of folic acid every day.
Vitamin B-6
Vitamin B-6, also known as pyridoxine, is critical in the development of your baby's brain and nervous system. It also aids in the production of red blood cells, immune response antibodies and neurotransmitter molecules. Pregnant women require 1.9 mg of vitamin B-6 per day. In some women, vitamin B-6 is an effective treatment for the nausea or vomiting associated with morning sickness. The highest dietary amounts of vitamin B-6 are found in beans, nuts, lean meat and fish. Talk to your doctor before taking a vitamin B-6 supplement since high levels may cause nerve damage.
Vitamin B-12
Vitamin B-12 is necessary for the synthesis of new DNA, the genetic material contained in each cell of your growing baby's body. It is also important for nerve and blood health. Deficiency in vitamin B-12 places you at risk of certain types of anemia, in which the red blood cells do not function properly to supply the mother's or the infant's body with enough oxygen. Pregnant women need 2.6 mcg of vitamin B-12 per day.
Vitamin B-7
Vitamin B-7 also goes by the name biotin. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that biotin deficiency during pregnancy may cause birth defects. In this study, biotin deficiency was observed in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy and supplementation with 300 mcg of biotin per day for 14 days corrected the deficiency.
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