Ideally, whether you’re pregnant or not, you should be eating a diet that’s well balanced enough so that you don’t need to supplement it with vitamins. However, some experts say that it can be hard for pregnant women to cover all their nutritional bases, especially if they experience severe morning sickness and have a hard time keeping food down. While women and their babies can do just fine without prenatal vitamins, and vitamins should never be used instead of a balanced diet, a supplement can serve to ensure that you’re not missing out on essential nutrients while pregnant. Doctors say certain vitamins and minerals, folic acid, iron and calcium among them, are especially vital to pregnant women. Folic acid has been found to reduce the risk of spina bifida in babies. Other nutrients, like vitamin A, can be harmful in high doses. The Government doesn’t regulate vitamins, so doctors caution to always consult with your health care provider before taking any supplements. Women who have special nutritional needs, or are on restricted diets, are especially likely to need prenatal vitamins, experts say. Some women find that their prenatal vitamins make them nauseous, in such cases experts advise talking to your health care provider and perhaps switching to a different type of supplement.
BabyCenter Australia®
“Buying Antenatal Supplements”
“Experts agree that the best way to make sure you and your baby get all the nutrients you need while you are pregnant is to eat a varied, well-balanced diet…However, in some circumstances it can be difficult to get all the nutrients you need through diet alone; if you are suffering badly with morning sickness, for example. In this case, your doctor or midwife may advise you to take a multivitamin supplement especially designed for pregnant women. “…read the full article
Web MD
“What You Need To Know About Prenatal Vitamins”
“For a mother’s health, and the health of her baby, she is advised to take so-called "prenatal vitamins." These are specially formulated multivitamins that make up for any nutritional deficiencies in the mother’s diet during pregnancy.”…read the full article
About.com
“The Scoop About Prenatal Vitamins”
“Prenatal vitamins are a hot topic these days. Everyone is touting the benefits of using them prior to getting pregnant to help prevent certain birth defects and continuing them during pregnancy and breastfeeding for continued protection from nutrition deficiencies. However, despite all of the attention these little pills get there are a lot of fallacies as well.”…read the full article
Dr. Sears
“Nutrition: Value Vitamins”
“Don’t megadose on vitamins while pregnant unless your doctor orders. Excesses of vitamin A, D, and E have been linked to birth defects or health problems in the mother. Even though the body usually protects against overdosing of most nutrients (especially water-soluble vitamins), excess vitamins A, D, and E are not automatically eliminated from the body because they are fat-soluble and therefore stored in body fat.”…read the full article
Raising Children Network
“Folic Acid In Pregnancy”
“Research has shown that the chance of having a baby with spina bifida or similar problems (called neural tube defects) is much less if a woman increases her intake of folic acid for at least one month before she gets pregnant and for the first three months of her pregnancy. Every woman who could become pregnant should be sure she gets enough folate and this is best done by taking folic acid tablets.” …read the full article
There are currently no comments.