Pregnancy Vitamins

When it comes to pregnancy vitamins there is one fact that most women tend to forget. We are talking about prenatal pregnancy vitamins and their effect on the proper development of the fetus. Any soon to become a mother is advised to take these vitamins and they are actually supplements that come with a formula especially designed to make up for any possible nutritional deficiency that the mother might show during pregnancy. Regular vitamin supplements do contain a lot of minerals and vitamins but they are not recommended in this stage of a woman’s life because they do not contain enough iron, calcium and folic acid. These three nutrients are the most important when talking about pregnancy vitamins and minerals.

Folic acid is the most important pregnancy vitamin because it aids the mother in reducing the risks of having a baby that shows serious birth defects of the brain or spinal cord (also known as the neural tube). The most common neural tube defect is spina bifida and it is characterized by the baby being born with a spine that is not closed. We thus have nerves that are exposed and this leads to different possible degrees of paralysis, mental retardation and/or incontinence. In most cases neural tube defects will appear in the first 28 days after conception and this is usually before most women are even aware that they are pregnant. The real problem stands in the fact that around half of all pregnancies are not planned. This lead the US Public Health Service to recommend that all women that can conceive need to take around 400 mg of folic acid daily. To make it even more serious, the FDA also requires that every flour product (including bread, bagels and buns) be fortified with more folic acid. Keep in mind that all women that have had previous births that showed the baby suffering from neural tube defects have to discuss the matter with their doctors before the next pregnancy. This basically means that appropriate doses of folic acid need to be prescribed to the woman. A lot of research has been done on the topic and it has been proven that taking one larger dose of up to 4,000 mg one month before and during the first trimester of pregnancy can be very beneficial for all women. Foods that are rich in folic acid include beans, citrus fruits, nuts and green leafy vegetables. A lot of fortified breakfast cereals and some vitamin supplements may also contain higher doses of folic acid.

Never forget about calcium and iron. Folic acid is highly important but calcium will aid the mother to not lose her bone density when the fetus uses this mineral for bone growth. Iron will also aid through easing blood’s work of carrying oxygen for both the baby and the mother. The only conclusion at hand is that a good prenatal pregnancy vitamin supplement has to be included in the daily activities list for all women that want to get pregnant and those that have already conceived.