Prenatal Vitamins

I figured that now that I'm pregnant, I should purchase and begin to take prenatal vitamins.  I started out with the Spring Valley brand from Walmart.  There are 100 1-a-day tablets for $4.00.  I thought this was a good buy and I was very excited that I wouldn't have to spend tons of money on vitamins.  I also bought a bottle of the Spring Valley brand Algal Omega-3 Fish Free DHA capsules ($9.00 for a bottle of 30), which are supposed to be great for the baby's brain and eye development.  According to recent studies, Omega-3 is a very essential supplement during pregnancy, not only for the baby's development, but also for the health of the mother.

I have been happy with my DHA capsules, and I've noticed that there is no fishy aftertaste, unlike the fish oil tablets I was taking pre-pregnancy.  They're small enough to swallow comfortably, and they haven't made me sick.  I have been taking them with food, and I suppose maybe that has helped.

I did notice that I was starting to get sick from my prenatal vitamins.  I did a little research, and found that the iron and zinc in some prenatal vitamins can irritate the stomach and cause even more sickness than usual.  The vitamins I was taking had 28 mg of iron (which is 156% of your daily needs while pregnant) and 25 mg of zinc (which is 167% of your daily needs).  Appalled, I went to my local GNC store and spoke with a very helpful saleswoman about my theory.  She agreed with me, and directed me to the GNC Women's Prenatal Formula with iron.  There are 60 tablets in a bottle for $9.99.  The daily dose (two pills a day) provides 18 mg of iron (100% of your daily needs) and 15 mg of zinc (also 100%).  The saleslady suggested that I take one pill with breakfast and one with dinner to split up the iron and zinc throughout the day.  So far, I've had no upset stomach and no metallic taste in my mouth like I had with the other vitamins.

I went on WebMD and found that a good prenatal vitamin should have approximately:

• 400 mcg of folic acid (these have 1000 mcg, which is good for your baby's nerve development and growth of the spinal cord)
• 400 IU of vitamin D (these have 400 IU)
• 200 to 300 mg of calcium (these have 600 mg)
• 70 mg of vitamin C (120 mg in the GNC prenatal formula)
• 3 mg of thiamine (these only have 1.4 mg, which I think is fine since most people get a lot of their daily requirement from breakfast cereals, grains, pastas and meats.)
• 2 mg of riboflavin (these have 1.6 mg, but again, a lot of this can be found in green vegetables, milk, yogurt, mushrooms, eggs, etc.)
• 20 mg of niacin (these have 18 mg, but since niacin is found in most meats, I wouldn't worry about it unless you're a vegetarian.)
• 6 mcg of vitamin B12 (these have 8 mcg)
• 10 mg of vitamin E (these have 30 IU, which is about twice as much as you need, but hey, it's great for your skin and eyes, and it's safe to take up to 1,500 IU daily when you're pregnant)
• 15 mg of zinc (these have 15 mg)
• 17 mg of iron (these have 18 mg).

Just for entertainment, I compared them to my Equate brand Children's Chewable Multi-Vitamin with extra vitamin C, which I had been taking pre-pregnancy because I hate to swallow vitamins, to see how much extra I'll be getting.  I was shocked to realize that the vitamins I had been taking have 300 mcg of Folic Acid, 400 IU of Vitamin D, NO CALCIUM (gasp!!), 250 mg of Vitamin C, 1.05 mg of Thiamin, 1.2 mg of Riboflavin, 13.5 mg Niacin, 4.5 mcg of Vitamin B12, 15 IU of Vitamin E, NO ZINC, and NO IRON!!  I probably should have been reading the packaging before purchasing these vitamins.  I guess there'll be no more chewable vitamins for me!  I'm disappointed, if you can't tell.