About Prenatal Vitamins
What is a prenatal supplement?
A prenatal supplement is a multivitamin you take daily to increase your nutritional intake of vitamins and minerals important to you and your baby during pregnancy. Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has set guidelines for what has to be in a multivitamin for it to be called a prenatal supplement, but your doctor or midwife will probably advise you to take one once you're planning to conceive or learn you're pregnant.
As a general rule, most prenatal supplements contain a greater amount of folic acid, iron, and calcium than you'll find in a standard multivitamin. Pregnant women need more of these nutrients than the average woman, especially folic acid, which reduces a baby's risk of neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida.
You can buy prenatal supplements at the drugstore, or your doctor or midwife can write you a prescription. Depending on your needs (if you're expecting multiple babies, for example, or if you've given birth before to a baby with neural tube defects), you may be prescribed a supplement with even greater amounts of certain nutrients.
Do I need to take one? Why?
Not all experts agree. ACOG, for one, thinks a balanced diet will supply all the vitamins you need through your pregnancy. But most healthcare providers will recommend that you take a supplement from the time you decide to start trying to get pregnant through your pregnancy.Why? It's difficult to meet your pregnant body's increased needs for nutrients through diet alone. Your body is making so much extra blood that you need about 30 to 60 mg of iron every day (15 to 45 mg more than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of 15 mg), and you need extra folic acid (at least 400 mcg) starting even before you get pregnant.
What nutrients will be in my supplement?
Besides iron (30 mg) and folic acidYou should consult you Family doctor before you take additional supplements.
Vitamins are essential for life
Vitamins are essential for life. They cannot be made in the body and therefore should come from food. Vitamins do not provide the body with energy – they only help the body release energy from food that is eaten. Vitamin supplements are indicated in some cases only. Excess intakes of fat - soluble vitamins are not recommended. A healthy varied diet will usually supply the body with all the vitamins needed.
In the body, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats combine with other substances to yield energy and build tissues. These chemical reactions are catalyzed, or accelerated, by enzymes produced from specific multi vitamins, and they take place in specific parts of the body.
prenatal vitamins needed by humans are divided into two categories: water-soluble vitamins (the B vitamins and vitamin C) and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). The water-soluble multi vitamins are absorbed by the intestine and carried by the circulatory system to the specific tissues where they will be put into use. The B vitamins act as coenzymes, compounds that unite with a protein component called an apoenzyme to form an active enzyme. The enzyme then acts as a catalyst in the chemical reactions that transfer energy from the basic food elements to the body. It is not known whether vitamin C acts as a coenzyme.
When a person takes in more water-soluble vitamins than are needed, small amounts are stored in body tissue, but most of the excess is excreted in urine. Because water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body in appreciable amounts, a daily supply is essential to prevent depletion.
Fat-soluble vitamins seem to have highly specialized functions. The intestine absorbs fat-soluble vitamins, and the lymph system carries these vitamins to the different parts of the body. Fat-soluble vitamins are involved in maintaining the structure of cell membranes. It is also believed that fat-soluble vitamins are responsible for the synthesis of certain enzymes.
The body can store larger amounts of fat-soluble vitamins than of water-soluble vitamins. The liver provides the chief storage tissue for vitamins A and D, while vitamin E is stored in body fat and to a lesser extent in reproductive organs. Relatively little vitamin K is stored. Excessive intake of fat-soluble vitamins, particularly vitamins A and D, can lead to toxic levels in the body.
Many multi vitamins work together to regulate several processes within the body. A lack of vitamins or a diet that does not provide adequate amounts of certain vitamins can upset the body's internal balance or block one or more metabolic reactions.
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Please note: All content of this web site is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice; rather it is designed to support, not replace, the relationship between you and your healthcare providers. You should make sure that you carefully read all product packaging and labels prior to use. If you have, or suspect you may have, a health problem you should consult your doctor. Please consult your doctor before taking any new product, particularly if you are already under medical care.
