Nausea is a common side effect of pregnancy that often, but not always, eases as your pregnancy progresses. When you're pregnant, taking prenatal vitamins ensures you get enough nutrients that keep you healthy and minimize the potential for birth defects; however, prenatal vitamins may exacerbate your nausea, causing acid reflux and discomfort.
Starting Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are typically prescribed for women who are trying to get pregnant because some of the ingredients are critical in the earliest stages of pregnancy, before you know you're pregnant. Folic acid, or vitamin B9, prevents neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. Because the spine and brain develop in the first month of pregnancy, taking prenatal vitamins after your official diagnosis is too late for them to be effective.
Effects
The ingredients in prenatal vitamins may make you feel more sick. The iron supplement included in most vitamins may upset your stomach causing acid reflux and nausea. If you're not anemic, see if your obstetrician will prescribe an alternative vitamin that doesn't have more than 30 mg of iron. This supplementary amount is all you need, and many prenatal vitamins contain more, which can irritate your stomach.
Minimizing Nausea and Acid Reflux
If taking the prenatal vitamin makes you feel sick and causes acid reflux, try a few changes. First, speak to your obstetrician about an alternative vitamin -- your doctor can prescribe another brand of prenatal vitamin. Second, see if taking the vitamin with food minimizes the nausea and reflux. Also see if taking the vitamin at night mitigates any symptoms. If none of these work, talk to your doctor about either splitting the pill in half to take twice a day.
Considerations
Taking a prenatal vitamin is critical to the health of your pregnancy; however, if you suffer from extreme nausea and reflux, as some women do, talk to your doctor. While vitamins are key, you must also keep food down to keep your pregnancy viable and to avoid significant health issues. Your doctor may recommend you separate supplements, such as taking folic acid, calcium and iron as separate tablets, to divide the needed vitamins and minerals.
