prenatal vitamins for pregnancy?

Prenatal Vitamins
In this Article

What Are Prenatal Vitamins? What to Look for in Prenatal Vitamins Folic Acid, Calcium, Iodine, and Iron What About Other Nutrients? When to Start Taking Prenatal Vitamins Prenatal Vitamin Side Effects

What Are Prenatal Vitamins?

Prenatal vitamins are supplements made for pregnant women to give their bodies the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy pregnancy. Your doctor may suggest that you take them when you begin to plan for pregnancy, as well as while you | re pregnant.

Eating a healthy diet is always a wise idea -- especially during pregnancy. It's also a good idea to take a prenatal vitamin to help cover any nutritional gaps in your diet.
What to Look for in Prenatal Vitamins

Prenatal vitamins help ensure that you get the nutrients you need for a healthy pregnancy.

Look for prenatal vitamins that have:

400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid
400 IU of vitamin D
200 to 300 milligrams (mg) of calcium
70 mg of vitamin C
3 mg of thiamine
2 mg of riboflavin
20 mg of niacin
6 mcg of vitamin B12
10 mg of vitamin E
15 mg of zinc
17 mg of iron
150 micrograms of iodine

In some cases, your doctor will give you a prescription for a certain type of prenatal vitamin.
Folic Acid, Calcium, Iodine, and Iron

Folic acid

If getting pregnant is a possibility for you, you should take folic acid. It can prevent birth defects that affect the baby | s brain and spinal cord. Neural tube defects develop early in pregnancy, before many women know they | re pregnant; half of all pregnancies are unplanned. This is why doctors recommend that any woman who could get pregnant take 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid daily, starting before conception and continuing for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

If you | ve had a baby with a neural tube defect you should talk with your health care provider about folic acid. Studies have shown that taking a larger dose (up to 4,000 micrograms) at least one month before and during the first trimester may help if you | ve had a baby with this defect. But talk to your doctor about what | s right for you.

Foods that have folic acid include:

Green leafy vegetables
Nuts
Beans
Citrus fruits
Many other foods fortified with folic acid