Choosing the Right Prenatal Vitamin When Pregnant

For most women, pregnancy can be very overwhelming. Not only is your body going through tremendous change, but now you must face a multitude of new decisions and wade through the overwhelming pressure that society places on expecting mothers. One of those critical decisions is how to ensure that the growing baby will get the nutrients that it needs to be born healthy; and by extension, which prenatal vitamins to take.

For many women, choosing a prenatal is simply filling the prescription that their doctor gave them, but for those that take the time looking at the various types of prenatal vitamins available, the choices can be intimidating. So the question remains, how do you choose and what do you look for.

In choosing a prenatal vitamin, the first thing that you need to look for is the folic acid content of the product. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that all women of child bearing age take at least 200 micrograms of folic acid every day. For expecting mothers, those numbers go up. Fortunately, higher potency prentals can provide up to 1000 micrograms of folate in the form of folic acid. In addition to folic acid, your prenatal vitamin should contain vitamin D, biotin and associated B vitamins as well as calcium for both mom and baby.

When making your selection, take some time to look at the label, and make an effort to choose a quality product. You don’t need to fill a prescription to take a prenatal vitamin and there are many high quality products on the drugstore shelf. Beware however, that in the vitamin industry you get what you pay for. Avoid spending money on vitamins that are extremely inexpensive. Often their dosage levels of nutrients are sub-par and there have been instances where the actual pills don’t have as much folic acid, vitamin D or calcium as is listed on the label. Your best bet in choosing a prenatal is to choose a vitamin made by a company that specializes in either prenatals or women’s health.

If you have trouble swallowing pills, alternative dosage forms such as liquids or chews are available as well. It all depends on what you can tolerate during morning sickness and what best suits your needs as you grow this new life.

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About Brian Nelson: Originally focused on developing sales tools and lead systems for real estate agents, Mr. Nelson has moved into the field of nutrition and now works as a manager in Bloom’en Nutrition, a women owned company dedicated to bringing better nutrition to women and expecting mothers.