Prenatal vitamins are multivitamins that specifically target the RDAs (Recommended Daily Allowances) for pregnant women to promote both the mother’s and the developing child’s health. Prenatal vitamins can help prevent nutritional deficits that may lead to pregnancy difficulties, even though it’s crucial to eat a balanced diet. They are typically advised for persons who are expecting or attempting to get pregnant because of this.
It’s crucial to pick a prenatal that is either manufactured by a reputable company or has undergone independent testing when buying. When taking vitamins during pregnancy, purity and quality are of the highest importance, and we want to help you make an informed decision. Before choosing a prenatal vitamin, consult a healthcare provider because every pregnant person has different nutritional needs.
Always consult a healthcare expert to determine the correct dosage and whether a supplement is right for you before including it in your regimen. Emonics supports and encourages taking parental leave at such a stage.
Best Overall: The newest research-backed dosages are provided by Full Well Prenatal Multivitamin Pros.
Pros:
Cons
This prenatal supplements of 2023 provides forms of vitamin B12 and folate, which are the types that all bodies can use in abundance. It has 4,000 IU of vitamin D, which can help prevent issues like gestational diabetes and reverse deficiencies. 6 This vitamin is also one of the few prenatal that has 300 mg of choline, the equivalent of not just a drop. Additionally, this supplement contains inositol, a vitamin that may be beneficial for maintaining blood sugar homeostasis.
It should be noted that this prenatal was not intended to contain iron or omega 3s because each woman’s demands for iron during pregnancy are different and because omega 3s may be better taken separately from a multivitamin. We advise an omega-3 supplement for all pregnant women. At the same time, it’s necessary to consult a healthcare professional to establish whether an iron supplement is appropriate and, if so, how much to take. Take a look at Nordic Naturals Prenatal DHA.
Price: $50 ($1.67 per day).
Best Value: Nature Made Prenatal Multi + DHA
Pros
Cons
If you’re seeking an all-in-one solution that will provide parent and baby with high-quality nutrients, Nature Made Prenatal Multivitamin with DHA is an excellent substitute. You may set aside money to acquire meals rich in nutrients because this company is known for producing high-quality, secure products at affordable prices. Many expectant mothers like it since it is a once-daily soft gel, gluten-free, and free of artificial flavors.
Since this supplement includes 200 mg of DHA on its own, it meets the recommended daily intake of 300 mg for pregnant women. You will be able to meet your demands if you add one dish of fatty fish each week.
Price: $15 ($0.14 per day)
Best for Morning Sickness: Needed Powdered Prenatal
Pros
Cons
A powdered prenatal is a fantastic alternative if you struggle to swallow prenatal if they make you queasy. The prenatal and fertility supplement market has been entirely overtaken by Needed. One of their first offerings, this powdered prenatal, was a pleasant alternative for mothers experiencing morning sickness. This monk fruit-sweetened powder has a vanilla flavor and is simple to use in smoothies, porridge, or lattes. For the days you feel less sick, you can alternate between using the powder and their prenatal tablet.
The product is careful to incorporate nutrients that are sourced responsibly and avoids fillers and additives that aren’t necessary. Cost is the major drawback or obstacle. However, if you’re feeling queasy, you may try this.
Price: $70 ($2.33 per day)
Most Organic: Garden of Life Prenatal multivitamin tablets from Mykind Organics
Pros
Cons
A supplement that uses high-quality plant ingredients is what expectant parents who want to stick to a vegan or plant-based diet will prefer. Given that it is certified organic, free of GMOs, and vegan, Mykind Organic is a wise choice. You can trust that it includes what it says it contains and is free of dangerous toxins because it is NSF certified.
Regarding prenatal, there are benefits and drawbacks to sourcing substances made from plants. To aid nausea, it first has a unique blend of stomach-soothing herbs, including ginger, peppermint, and lemon. Second, this supplement employs food-based folate, which is highly effective and well-absorbed. However, it also uses plant-based iron, which is less efficient at balancing anemia.
Price: $61 ($1.02 per day)
Best choline: NusaPure Choline Bitartrate
Pros
Cons
You might have noticed that choline is absent from your prenatal supplement. Consider taking a stand-alone choline supplement if you don’t routinely eat choline-rich foods like eggs, liver, soybeans, and poultry. A reputable company, NusaPure, uses GMP procedures to create safe and efficient supplements. Their tablets are non-GMO, vegetarian, and gluten-free.
You’ll see that the 650 mg of choline bitartrate listed by NusaPure equates to 267 mg of elemental choline. This is one of the few supplements that comes close to the 450 mg suggested dose for pregnancy. You must choose another prenatal supplement besides NusaPure because it contains only choline and is not a complete prenatal supplement.
Price: $20 ($0.20 per day)
Best Trimester-specific personalization: Perelel Vitamin Pros
Pros
Cons
As you move through each trimester of pregnancy, your requirements for specific nutrients will fluctuate because pregnancy is a dynamic process. Parallel employs a novel strategy and creates prenatal vitamins based on demands particular to each trimester. Prenatal and omega-3 are the first supplements in each trimester subscription, conveniently packaged in a little sachet. Next, there are various add-ons. For instance, in the first trimester, they increase their folate intake and take ginger for nausea; in the second, they increase their calcium and magnesium intake as the baby’s skeletal system grows; in the third, they take a probiotic. It’s crucial to remember that there may be no additional benefits from this probiotic supplement.
Products from Perelel are dairy-, gluten-, and GMO-free. However, these vitamins are not vegan because they get their omega-3 from high-quality fish oil. This one is not for you if you have trouble consuming a lot of pills because each package has five of them. Its price point is more significant than other prenatal because it prides itself on using premium ingredients and allowing for personalization.
Price: $58 ($1.93 per day)
Best prenatal omega-3.: Nordic Naturals offers
Pros
Cons
While specific prenatal vitamins include DHA, taking DHA supplements is typically offered and handled separately from other vitamins is advised. So that you can take it independently from your prenatal multivitamin, we would like to provide you with a supplement alternative that is DHA alone (with a small quantity of vitamin D). Thankfully, Nordic Naturals offers a high-quality solution that only requires two tiny capsules and is available in strawberry and flavorless varieties so that you won’t have burping or a fishy aftertaste.
The recommended daily intake of DHA is 300 mg. However, this omega-3 supplement has 480 mg. You can be confident that your needs are being met even if you are not eating a portion of fatty fish.
Price: $42 ($0.47 per day)
The ideal two capsules: Ritual Prenatal Pros.
Pros
Cons
Ritual streamlines the taking of many medicines daily, which can be intimidating and possibly unpleasant for your stomach. An item known as a “Smart Capsule” has been developed that delays the release of nutrients in the body, so they are released in the gut region where they are absorbed, which is also less sensitive to digestive disturbance.
Rituals provide several essential vitamins and minerals for parent and baby nutritional priority. They incorporate more vitamin D than most other two-pill prenatal, use the methylated form of folate for optimum absorption, and include a small quantity of choline and a lot of DHA for eye and brain development.
Price: $40 ($1.33 per day)
Best Gummy: SmartyPants Prenatal Formula
Pros
Cons
Taking a chewable, gummy vitamin-like, you did as a child might be enjoyable and comforting. An easy-to-take gummy prenatal vitamin made by Smarty Pants is free of salicylates, top allergens, artificial flavors, synthetic colors, and third-party testing. You can obtain your daily dose of essential nutrients for you and your developing child in only four simple gummies.
The fact that gummy vitamins taste fantastic is a benefit. However, the extra sugars are what give this delicious flavor. If you also take a prenatal supplement, be aware of your added sugar intake, as this product uses cane sugar to make it sweet.
Price: $30 ($1 per day)
Do prenatal vitamins have any advantages?
Those attempting to get pregnant: The CDC advises all women of childbearing age to intake 400 micrograms of folic acid daily to guard against neural birth abnormalities if they become pregnant.
Those that are expecting: The need for nutrients is higher during pregnancy. According to USDA data, these populations are commonly advised to take a daily prenatal vitamin because many pregnant and lactating adults do not meet recommendations for specific food groups and particular nutrients. The American College of Obstetricians, Gynecologists, and the CDC advises pregnant women to take a daily prenatal vitamin containing 400 micrograms of folic acid.
Mothers who are nursing: While breastfeeding, it may be advantageous to continue taking a prenatal vitamin; however, the RDAs for lactating women vary significantly from those for pregnant women. For instance, prenatal vitamins may have too little iodine and choline and may not provide enough iron or folic acid to meet postpartum needs. 8
Essential Ingredients in Prenatal Vitamins
Numerous prenatal vitamins are included, focusing on the particular vitamin and mineral requirements to promote a healthy pregnancy. Some of the essential nutrients, along with their various forms, to look for in prenatal vitamins include:
Folate
The B vitamin folate is naturally present in the liver, citrus, almonds, and dark leafy greens. A folic acid is a form of folate that has long been advocated as a supplement. However, the vitamin’s inactive form needs to be changed into the active form before your body can utilize it. We now understand that the MTHFR gene variation affects around 50% of the population, which affects this conversion process.
The most crucial nutrient to start taking as soon as you find out you’re pregnant, ideally, a few months before, is folic acid, also known as L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate. It is in charge of the neural tube’s development (what will become the brain and spinal cord).
Vitamin D
Since there aren’t many good food sources of vitamin D, a supplement is typically necessary throughout pregnancy to maintain optimal levels. Vitamin D is a hormone that contributes to bone growth, cell growth regulation, immunological function, and glucose metabolism.
Studies have indicated that vitamin D-deficient moms had more excellent rates of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and preterm birth and were more likely to deliver undersized babies. Their offspring also had less dense, weaker bones when they were young.
Vitamin A
Liver, sweet potatoes, spinach, pumpkin, and carrots are just a few of the vitamin A-rich foods that are safe and healthy to eat regularly. Cell differentiation and reproduction require vitamin A. It is critical for the heart, spine, ears, and eyes growth.
One of the few vitamins, vitamin A, should be closely monitored to ensure that hazardous quantities are not reached. The retinol form of vitamin A has been related to severe birth abnormalities at doses above 10,000 IU/day. While many pregnant women do not require vitamin A supplements, those who do might want to think about choices that include the beta-carotene version of this nutrient, which is not harmful in large quantities.
Iron
There is little doubt that appropriate consumption is necessary, and while iron can be found in meat, oysters, beans, spinach, and other foods, deficiencies are prevalent. Red blood cell production rises throughout pregnancy to assist the baby get more oxygen. Every cell in a pregnant woman and the developing fetus needs iron, so a person’s need for iron during pregnancy doubles.
Prenatal vitamins include iron in a variety of ways. Prenatal may contain ferrous fumarate, ferrous sulfate, or ferrous gluconate because ferrous iron is more bioavailable than ferric iron. These forms of iron may not be as well tolerated at high doses as the bisglycinate form or the polysaccharide-iron complex.
Choline
Regarding prenatal nutrition, choline still feels like the “new kid on the block,” but fortunately, it is receiving more of the attention it deserves. Two eggs per day can supply half of your choline requirements. The majority of pregnant women, however, do not consume the necessary amounts. Salmon, chicken breast, liver, red meat, beans, and liver are some foods that contain it.
Choline is a crucial vitamin required for synthesizing neurotransmitters and cell membranes. Additionally, it is critical for developing the brain, lipid transport, and gene expression. Choline consumption during pregnancy benefits the placenta’s health and function, the baby’s neurological development, and epigenetic programming, which may impact the baby’s future.
DHA
Pregnancy draws much attention to brain health and development, so you’ve probably heard of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA. This substance, which is present mainly in fatty fish, is essential for the growth of the neurological system, the eyes, and the brain. Longer gestations have even been linked to greater birth weights, better mental and psychomotor development in the offspring, and superior cardiovascular health in later life (possibly reducing the likelihood of premature birth). 20
Our best recommendation is Full Well’s Prenatal Multivitamin, which costs approximately $1.67 per day and has appropriate concentrations of nearly all nutrients. However, we do advise taking an additional omega-3 supplement, and depending on your unique physique and lifestyle; you could also require an iron supplement.
Our recommendation for those on a tight budget, Nature Mades Prenatal + DHA, is inexpensive, requires one daily pill, and provides several essential nutrients. Still, there are better choices than this nutritionally. You can save money by selecting this option and including a few particular nutritional supplements each day.
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