Prenatal Vitamins
Begin Pre-Conception
Start taking at least 3 months before trying to get pregnant, to build up in your system
You’ll continue taking for a few months postpartum too, especially if breastfeeding - so worth finding one you like (or at least tolerate!)
Key Ingredients
Most important ingredients are folate/folic acid and iron, as these are needed in greater quantities during pregnancy and are hard to get from food alone.
Other beneficial nutrients are calcium, Vitamins A/B/C/D, zinc and iodine
Given your specific diet or known deficiencies, look for options that cover your nutritional gaps, or discuss with your OB supplementing with nutrient-specific pills (e.g. take Vitamin D pills in addition to the prenatal if you’re deficient in D)
Don’t overdo it - taking more than the recommended amount of different nutrients can actually be harmful
Cost
FSA Account: prenatals are eligible to buy tax-free through your FSA account
Prescription from OB: while most women just buy their own OTC vitamins, you can ask your OB if they’ll give you a prescription instead which could mean insurance will cover the cost
Picking a Pill
My Personal Fave is Ritual, if you want to skip the below section. Many lists like this one rank different vitamin options - but at the end of the day, as long as it’s covering the key ingredients and is tolerable enough to consistently take every day, you are fine.
Fancy vs. Basic: There’s been an explosion of fancier prenatal vitamin brands and subscription services (Perelel, Ritual, FullWell, to name a few). If you want to spend the extra money on these, go for it - but know you’re totally fine just using the brands you’ll find at Walgreens/CVS.
Number of Pills: some of the subscriptions require you to take a large number of pills (I saw one with 8 a day!), so keep in mind if that’s a problem for you
Folate vs. Folic Acid: some tout the advantages of folate over folic acid (which is a synthetic form), claiming it’s easier for the body to absorb. While it’s true that a small percentage of people have a gene that makes folic acid harder to break down, the limited empirical research suggests they are quite comparable in terms of absorption (folate may have fewer interactions with other drugs than folic acid, however).
Fishy smells: many vitamins include omega 3 DHA (fish oil) which is good for baby’s brain development and important to include if you don’t eat much seafood. But the taste/smell can be offputting, especially if you’re already experiencing nausea.
Avoid: Vitamin Shoppe and NatureMade very fishy
Alternative: Ritual and Pink Stork disguise the taste with a citrus flavor; Nordic Naturals makes a vegan option from algae
Gummies: if you have trouble swallowing pills, gummy options are available (SmartyPants, Vitafusion and Olly are popular brands) but they don’t include iron, so you’ll need to supplement with iron (which will at least be a much smaller pill)
Additional Supplements
The following supplements may be beneficial to take in addition to your prenatal, especially if you are a vegetarian since they are mainly found in animal products:
Omega-3 (Algae form)
Choline (especially if you’re vegan and don’t eat eggs)
Iron (look for non-constipating options; also, adding a small vitamin C pill can help with iron absorption)
Another supplement that is safe and may be beneficial during pregnancy is Magnesium. This can help with sleep and serve as an alternative to Melatonin, which isn’t safe for pregnancy.
Calcium may also be helpful because many women don’t get enough from diet alone. Supplementation has been found to reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia.
