Taking prenatal vitamins before, during and after your pregnancy may help prevent an uncomplicated and healthy pregnancy. Your doctor prescribes multivitamin supplements to keep you healthy and to make sure your baby's development is not compromised by inadequate nutrition. Your growing baby requires vitamins and minerals to develop properly, but not all minerals, including manganese, are included in a prenatal vitamin.
Manganese
Manganese is a mineral your body cannot make; rather, it must be obtained in the plants you eat. Manganese acts as a crucial antioxidant for the mitochondria of the cells in energy production. It also activates enzymes involved in metabolizing carbohydrates, cholesterol and amino acids. Cartilage formation for your bones and collagen production for healing wounds is dependent on manganese as well. Low levels of serum manganese may be linked to seizures, diabetes and insulin resistance.
Prenatal Vitamins
It is estimated that 20 to 30 percent of mothers-to-be are deficient in minerals. These deficiencies may lead to adverse effects for you and your child, including iron deficient anemia, pre-term delivery, complicated and prolonged labor, premature rupture of membranes, certain birth defects and maternal hypothyroidism and depression. Taking a prenatal vitamin supplement may avoid this, but manganese is usually not included in prenatal vitamin supplements.
Manganese and Pregnancy
Even though prenatal vitamin supplements do not include manganese, you still require it in your prenatal diet. Most people get enough manganese from plant foods. Even some drinking water includes manganese. An overabundance of manganese, however, may be toxic to the fetus. Overexposure to manganese, either with supplements or from the environment, is associated with stillbirth and with clubfoot in infants.
Sources of Manganese
The recommended daily intake of manganese for pregnancy is 2mg, and when you're breastfeeding, 2.6mg. If you find it difficult to get this amount daily, try to average your manganese intake over a few days. Manganese is found in grains, pastas, cereals, nuts, brown rice, beans, tea and peas. For example, 1 cup of cooked brown rice contains 1.8mg of manganese, 1 oz. of pecans has 1.3mg, 1 cup of black tea has 0.5mg, one slice of whole wheat bread has 0.6mg and 1/2 cup of pineapple contains 0.9mg.
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