Prenatal Vitamin Advice

Tamara HunterBlog

Are you looking for prenatal vitamin advice? You and your baby need several important vitamins and minerals for your fertility and a healthy pregnancy.


Folic Acid and Folate

Why are folic acid or folate so important? First off, folate is found in green leafy veggies and folic acid is the synthetic vitamin in supplements. You need the vitamin folate or folic acid to be present in a mother’s body before getting pregnant. It is needed for the synthesis of DNA and to prevent neural tube defects. That means that it helps the baby’s brain and spine form. It is important to take an additional folic acid supplement leading into pregnancy.

Prenatal vitamin advice

Vitamin D

Some prenatal vitamin advice is for you also to take Vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that helps bones, muscle function, and immune system function. It naturally occurs in egg yolks, cheese, fatty fish (like salmon and tuna), and liver. Vitamin D can be found in smaller amounts in some mushrooms. Lack of vitamin D during pregnancy can cause bowed legs. It can also cause deformities of the wrists, ankles and skull. Because so many of our foods are supplemented with vitamin D, you need a blood test to determine if you need another vitamin D supplement.

Iron

Iron is a vitamin found in red meat, seafood, beans, and dark leafy green veggies. Food manufacturers add it to grain based products, like bread. You need iron to produce red blood cells to move oxygen your baby. A very few number of women cannot take iron supplements because it causes bowel upset. Bowel upset prevents them from absorbing iron and a very small number need an iron infusion. Iron can be toxic in large amounts and a woman should talk to her GP before adding iron supplements to her diet.

Prenatal vitamin advice

Other vitamins

Some more prenatal vitamin advice for expectant mothers is that there is little evidence to support “routine” supplementation of other vitamins in pregnancy such as Vitamin A, C & E and, not unexpectedly, excessive quantities of fat soluble vitamins may be harmful.

One Last Point – What You Don’t Need

One last point is tobacco and alcohol consumption impacts the fertility of both partners. It also impacts the health of the baby during pregnancy and after birth.

Useful links

Concerned about some potential early pregnancy problems? Or having difficulty falling pregnant? Read about the potential fertility problems that you may be encountering.