What nutrient is recommended for supplementation before and during pregnancy?
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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. Show
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 VitaminsPrenatal vitamins help ensure that you get the nutrients you need for a healthy pregnancy. Look for prenatal vitamins that have:
In some cases, your doctor will give you a prescription for a certain type of prenatal vitamin. Folic Acid, Calcium, Iodine, and IronFolic 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:
Even though you can get folic acid from food, it's a good idea to take a supplement as a backup. Calcium Calcium is also important for a pregnant woman. It can help prevent you from losing your bone density as the baby uses calcium for its own bone growth. Iodine Iodine is critical for a woman’s healthy thyroid function during pregnancy. Iodine deficiency can cause:
Iron Iron helps your body make more blood red cells. These blood cells carry oxygen to the baby that it needs to develop. What About Other Nutrients?There are other nutrients that may improve the health of your pregnancy. Your doctor can help you decide if you need to take supplements that include: Choline: Although your body can make some choline on its own, you get most of it from food. Rich sources include beef, pork, chicken, fish, and eggs. Many pregnant women don’t get enough choline, which the baby needs for healthy brain growth. When to Start Taking Prenatal VitaminsThe best time to start taking prenatal vitamins is before conception. Folic acid is especially important. You should begin taking a folic acid supplement at least 1 month before you try to get pregnant to prevent birth defects. Some doctors recommend that all women who could have a baby take prenatal vitamins, even if they don’t plan a pregnancy. Prenatal Vitamin Side EffectsSome prenatal vitamins can cause nausea in an already nauseated pregnant woman. If that happens to you, talk to your health care provider. They may be able to prescribe a different kind of prenatal vitamin that you don’t have to swallow whole. Options include: There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Review/update the information highlighted below and resubmit the form. From Mayo Clinic to your inboxSign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertise on managing health. ErrorEmail field is required ErrorInclude a valid email address Learn more about Mayo Clinic’s use of data.To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail. What nutrients are recommended to be supplemented during pregnancy?During pregnancy you need folic acid, iron, calcium, vitamin D, choline, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and vitamin C. See the below table for recommended amounts. Fortified cereal, enriched bread and pasta, peanuts, dark green leafy vegetables, orange juice, beans.
Which nutrient is specifically important before and during pregnancy?Folate and folic acid — Prevent brain and spinal cord birth problems. Folate is a B vitamin that helps prevent serious problems with the developing brain and spinal cord (neural tube defects). The synthetic form of folate found in supplements and fortified foods is known as folic acid.
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