| Taking prenatal vitamins is so important for expectant | | | | development. The vitamin helps prevent birth defects |
| mothers, and their babies as well. When you first learn | | | | like spina-bifida. Only three out of nine vitamins on |
| that you are indeed pregnant, your doctor will prescribe | | | | average actually provide the amount of folate labeled |
| a good prenatal vitamin for you to take. Sometimes | | | | on the bottle. This is not to suggest that the |
| your doctor will give you several different samples of | | | | supplements do not have the vitamin, it just is not |
| various brands for you to take in order to find the one | | | | absorbed by the woman's body. |
| that is right for you. | | | | Some argue that it is better to take a prenatal vitamin |
| You will often hear at times of people who assert that | | | | prescribed by a doctor. However, this is not |
| the vitamins are beneficial for women who are | | | | necessarily the case. While prescribed vitamins are |
| planning to conceive. Using the supplements before | | | | ideal, many of the very same vitamins are available in |
| getting pregnant helps prevent certain birth defects. | | | | stores and without a prescription. The most important |
| Some mothers choose to continue taking prenatal | | | | thing to consider is the ingredients in the vitamins. |
| vitamins throughout their pregnancies and while they | | | | Another important factor to consider is whether the |
| are breastfeeding. | | | | prenatal vitamins are easily absorbed or not. |
| It is important to remember that the prenatal vitamins | | | | There is an easy test you can use to determine if the |
| are supplements. They do not replace a balanced diet. | | | | vitamins will be absorbed into your system. Put one of |
| It is not good practice to rely on vitamins for all of your | | | | the prenatal vitamins into a cup of water. Wait ten |
| nutritional needs. It is more important to eat a healthy, | | | | minutes. If the vitamin is dissolved, or is very soft, it will |
| well-balanced diet than it is to take pills, no matter how | | | | be absorbed into your system. If the vitamin remains |
| beneficial they are. The vitamins also work better | | | | hard, it will probably pass through your system without |
| when they are taken with a healthy diet. Some of the | | | | depositing many of the nutrients it carries. |
| nutrients in the foods help to absorb the vitamins. | | | | It is a good idea to talk to your doctor when deciding |
| Calcium is an extremely important element in a | | | | which prenatal vitamin is best for you. I found that the |
| pregnant woman's diet. Prenatal vitamins do not have | | | | vitamin my doctor prescribed made me very |
| the recommended daily allowance of calcium for an | | | | nauseous. I told my doctor about the trouble I was |
| expecting mother. Prenatal vitamins have about 250 | | | | having and she recommended a supplement that I |
| milligrams of calcium but an expectant mother requires | | | | could buy over the counter. This vitamin was not a |
| between 1,200 and 1,500 milligrams of calcium each | | | | potent as the one she originally prescribed, but I was |
| day to assure that the baby will develop properly. This | | | | getting more nutrients because I was able to tolerate |
| is a significant difference. | | | | them much better. |
| Not every prenatal vitamin is the same; in fact some | | | | Finding the right prenatal vitamin may take a little trial |
| may not benefit the expectant mother as much as | | | | and error, but the benefits are great. Just continue to |
| they claim. Recent studies show that a pregnant | | | | keep in mind that you still need to maintain a healthy |
| woman's body does not necessarily absorb all of the | | | | diet. The benefits of prenatal vitamins are enormous |
| nutrients provided by the vitamins, especially folate. | | | | and highly recommended, but good nutrition is still better |
| Folate is extremely important in the baby's prenatal | | | | than any supplement. |