Because they're affordable and readily available, adults may choose to use Flintstones vitamins as a daily vitamin and mineral supplement. While they can certainly provide you with the micronutrients -- vitamins and minerals -- that you need when you're not pregnant, they aren't ideal during pregnancy unless you augment them with additional supplements.
Pregnancy and Micronutrients
During pregnancy, your nutrient needs are higher than they are at other times. This is true with regard to the macronutrients -- compounds that provide energy -- and is also true with regard to the micronutrients, or vitamins and minerals. In particular, you need larger quantities of specific micronutrients -- especially iron and folic acid -- than you do when you're not pregnant.
Prenatal Vitamins
The reason many women take prenatal vitamins is that they provide for all your micronutrient needs, particularly your needs for larger quantities of iron and folic acid. Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz explain that you should get 27 mg iron during pregnancy, as opposed to 18 mg at other times. Whereas you normally need about 400 mcg folic acid each day, you should take 800 to 1,000 mcg a day during pregnancy. Prenatal vitamins contain these amounts.
Flintstones Vitamins
While Flintstones vitamins contain many of the same vitamins and minerals that you need during pregnancy, they don't necessarily contain them in the correct amounts. Specifically, they're low in iron and folic acid, relative to your pregnancy needs, containing 27 mg and 400 mcg respectively, according to FlintstonesVitamins.com. As such, your obstetrician may not be comfortable with your using the vitamins as a substitute for prescription or over-the-counter prenatals.
Options
If you like taking Flintstones vitamins and want to continue to do so during pregnancy, you might ask your obstetrician whether you could take the vitamins, along with additional iron and folic acid supplements, to help you reach your daily pregnancy requirements of those particular micronutrients. One benefit of this option is that because prenatals are quite expensive, it may be more affordable to use Flintstones plus supplemental iron and folic acid.
References
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
- Flintstones: Flintstones Vitamins Complete
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