Although a healthy diet is the best way to get the daily dose of required vitamins and minerals, they don’t always provide certain key nutrients which are essential during pregnancy. For expectant mothers, or those trying to conceive, prenatal vitamins can help fill any gaps while supporting both mother and baby’s wellbeing. Melissa Snover, registered nutritionist and founder of Nourished, shares her top tips for taking multivitamins during pregnancy.
Essential Folic Acid
Adults typically need around 200mg of Folic Acid, but anyone considering pregnancy, or breastfeeding mothers, need up to 400mg more*.Â
Folic Acid can be found in oranges and orange juice, and leafy greens including spinach, kale, cabbage, broccoli. However, as it dissolves easily in water, it can be lost from vegetables during cooking. A high-dosage supplement is essential for expectant and new mothers as studies have shown that supplementing folic acid can help to prevent certain birth defects. It can also have apositive impact on a baby’s cognitive development, whilst helping to reduce fatigue in the pregnant woman – which any mother experiences all too often!
Natural remedies
Pre-natal vitamins typically provide folic acid, iron, zinc, and milk thistle extract, but there are a number of useful vitamins that can sometimes be forgotten about or not considered among pregnant women. Ginger extract is commonly used throughout pregnancy to tackle nausea, migraines, and muscle pain. It also has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. As well as sipping ginger tea, look out for ginger supplements – or create your own personalised vitamins to ensure your nutrition regime is tailored to your unique lifestyle, goals and wellbeing.
What to avoid
Having large amounts of Vitamin A during pregnancy can actually be harmful to the baby, so avoid cod liver oil or any other multivitamins and supplements with a high Vitamin A dosage – including retinol skincare medicines.
Although Vitamin A is important for helping to develop a baby’s vision and immune function, the body stores excess amounts in the liver – which can lead to damage. Between prenatal vitamins and a healthy diet, women should already be getting their daily dose of Vitamin A.
Probiotics
Although upping your vitamin and mineral intake during pregnancy has great benefits on the body, the only downside of a sudden change in diet is the impact on gut health. Many pregnant women turn to probiotics to support their digestion, as some studies have found they can even reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, postpartum depression, and eczema and dermatitis in babies**. While probiotics aren’t necessarily essential, they’re completely safe to take during pregnancy, alongside upping dairy foods like milk, cheese and yoghurt to provide extra protein and calcium.
