Prenatal nutritional vitamins: Why they matter, how to select

Ponder if you will need to choose prenatal nutritional vitamins? Or what to do if they make you constipated? Get responses to these queries and much more.

By Mayo Clinic Workers

A wholesome diet plan is the most effective way to get the nutritional vitamins and minerals you will need. But all through pregnancy you could tumble small on key vitamins. If you might be pregnant or hoping to conceive, prenatal nutritional vitamins can help fill any gaps.

Why are prenatal nutritional vitamins important?

During pregnancy, you will need much more folic acid and iron than common. Here is why:

  • Folic acid allows stop neural tube flaws. These flaws are major abnormalities of the fetal mind and spinal wire. Preferably, you will start off using added folic acid at the very least 3 months in advance of you grow to be pregnant.
  • Iron supports the improvement of the placenta and fetus. Iron allows your human body make blood to offer oxygen to the fetus. Iron also allows stop anemia, a situation in which blood has a low amount of wholesome red blood cells.

Which prenatal vitamin is most effective?

Prenatal nutritional vitamins are offered around-the-counter in just about any pharmacy. Your health and fitness care provider could recommend a precise brand name or go away the choice up to you.

Beyond checking for folic acid and iron, look for a prenatal vitamin that has calcium and vitamin D. They help promote the improvement of the baby’s teeth and bones. It also could be advantageous to look for a prenatal vitamin that has vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, B nutritional vitamins, zinc and iodine.

In addition, your health and fitness care provider could advise better doses of specific vitamins dependent on the instances. For illustration, if you have presented birth to a child who has a neural tube defect, your health and fitness care provider could recommend a independent health supplement that contains a better dose of folic acid — this sort of as four milligrams (four,000 micrograms) — in advance of and all through any subsequent pregnancies.

But in standard, avoid using added prenatal nutritional vitamins or multivitamins with dosing in excessive of what you will need on a day-to-day basis. High doses of some nutritional vitamins may possibly be destructive to your child. For illustration, added vitamin A all through pregnancy can potentially result in hurt to your child.

Do I will need to be concerned about other vitamins?

Omega-3 fatty acids, a sort of fat found the natural way in quite a few forms of fish, help promote a baby’s mind improvement. If you really don’t try to eat fish or other meals large in omega-3 fatty acids, your health and fitness care provider could recommend omega-3 fatty acid health supplements in addition to prenatal nutritional vitamins.

When ought to I begin using prenatal nutritional vitamins?

Preferably, you will begin using prenatal nutritional vitamins in advance of conception. In reality, it really is commonly a excellent strategy for ladies of reproductive age to consistently choose a prenatal vitamin. The baby’s neural tube, which gets to be the mind and spinal wire, develops all through the 1st thirty day period of pregnancy
— possibly in advance of you even know that you might be pregnant.

Do prenatal nutritional vitamins have any facet effects?

Sometimes the iron in prenatal nutritional vitamins contributes to constipation. To stop constipation:

  • Drink plenty of fluids
  • Involve much more fiber in your diet plan
  • Involve physical activity in your day-to-day schedule, as prolonged as you have your health and fitness care provider’s Ok
  • Talk to your health and fitness care provider about employing a stool softener

If these tips really don’t feel to help, question your health and fitness care provider about other selections.