Prenatal vitamins are a hot topic among many women these days and many of them are talking about the benefits of using them before getting pregnant. The reasoning is that prenatal vitamins may help prevent some birth defects. Prenatal vitamins, in my opinion, should probably become part of the diet plan for expecting mothers. Pregnancy greatly increases the need for some nutrients and it can be hard to meet these needs through diet alone. Iron and folic acid are two such nutrients. Pregnancy is a time when both mother and baby are growing quickly. This rapid growth increases the demand for all nutrients, and the development of the baby and placenta are directly influenced by the mother’s nutritional status. Doctors will often prescribe a prenatal vitamin to a pregnant patient, but some evidence suggests that vitamins are beneficial for women who are planning to conceive. The consistent use of prenatal vitamins during pregnancy and breastfeeding is advisable to reduce or avert the chances of nutrition deficiencies.
Most Prenatal vitamins are specially formulated to make up for nutritional deficiencies in a mother’s diet, and contain supplements such as vitamins, zinc, iron, and calcium. Perhaps most important, they contain folic acid, which reduces the risk of serious birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. Prenatal vitamins could very well prove to play a vital role in a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, due in large part to the great defiencies now found in most of our food. However, prenatal vitamins are not meant to be your sole source of nutrients. They are meant to supplement, or prevent certain nutrient deficiencies. Eating a healthy, varied and balanced diet will go a long way toward ensuring the health of both mother and infant.
Important Nutrients For Mother And Child:
DHA
DHA is a fatty acid belonging to the omega- 3 family, and it is very important for brain development. This nutrient is crucial for the baby from the very beginning of pregnancy through the time of breast feeding. It is essential to the body, but much more so during pregnancy.
IRON
Iron is a mineral and is another important nutrient in pregnancy. Most prenatal supplements will include iron in their mixture. During the third and final trimester of pregnancy the baby will draw large amounts of iron from the mother. It will obtain this iron from the stored levels in the mother’s body.
FOLIC ACID
Folic acid is a must during pregnancy. It is plentiful in dark leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, and whole grains, among other foods. It cuts the risk of birth defects in babies, and is almost always found in prenatal vitamins.
Folic acid has been proven crucial for a baby’s neural tube development, especially during the first trimester when women are most likely to suffer from nausea and vomiting. In fact, some recommend women should start taking about 400 micrograms of folate at least a month before they start trying to conceive.
CALCIUM
Calcium is extremely important as well as essential to both the mother and child in pregnancy. Calcium and magnesium help protect the mother’s bones during this time when the demands of both her body as well as the baby’s body for these nutrients must be met. A good prenatal vitamin will contain calcium, but the mother must also eat a well balanced diet to obtain calcium as well.
Not all prenatal vitamins are of the same quality of course. They all tend to have all of the basic nutrients in them that are necessary at such a crucial time for a woman’s body. However, the best prenatal will provide what mother and child needs, at just the right amounts, as well as avoiding amounts that tend to toxicity.




