How To Choose a Great Prenatal Vitamin Supplement Formula

If you are planning to have a baby, it is a really good idea to take prenatal vitamins.  Even though a well-balanced healthy diet, full of natural, raw nutritious foods is important it is also a good idea to optimize your baby’s healthy by making sure that all of your nutritional needs are “covered” by taking prenatal vitamins. This could be especially crucial if you are a vegan.

How Prenatal Vitamins Differ From Others

Read Prenatal Vitamin Labels!

Prenatal vitamin formulas differ from other regular vitamins because that they contain more folic acid and iron then other standard multivitamins.

·      The folic acid helps prevent abnormalities in the brain and spinal cord.

·      The iron assists with the fetus’ normal growth and development and helps prevent anemia in both mom and baby

Supplementation with both iron and folic acid helps prevent the risk of the baby developing low birth weight.

How to Choose A Quality Prenatal Vitamin Formula

At the very least, the prenatal vitamins chosen should include folic acid and iron. However there are quite a few other nutrients that should be on the formula label.

A great prenatal vitamin supplement will also include omega 3 fatty acids, which are found in fish, nuts and avocadoes.  Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial to your baby’s brain development and the active component is usually labelled as DHA on the vitamin bottle label.

It is also crucial that the calcium and vitamin D are in the formula as well especially if you do not drink milk or eat calcium rich foods such as calcium, kale or grapefruit.

Reading The Prenatal Vitamin Label

You can buy prenatal vitamins in just about any drugstore.  Look for a prenatal vitamin supplement that contains:

Folic acid       400 to 800 mcg

Iron                 30 mg

Vitamin D      400 IU

Calcium         250 mg

Vitamin C         50 mg

Zinc                  15 mg

Vitamin B-6        2 mg

Copper               2 mg

DHA                 250 mg   

Taking Vitamins Before And During Pregnancy

Ideally, pregnant women should not be taking prenatal vitamins “after the fact” of conception. It is best to start taking them before conception to ensure normal brain and spinal cord development.

It is also bees to take the prenatal vitamins throughout your entire pregnancy, drink plenty of fluids and include more fibre in your diet because the extra iron in prenatal vitamins can promote constipation. Taking a daily walk can also help with the constipation.

Although it is true that the best sources of vitamins will always be from fresh, preferably organic and natural whole food sources but a little insurance (n the form of prenatal supplements) against the development of spinal and neural defects is highly recommended.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.