What’s in Prenatal Vitamins?

Many women who are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant take the following advice from their health care provider: “take a prenatal vitamin.” Before you go out and purchase a prenatal multivitamin, make sure that you know what’s in it, especially if you already take multivitamins on a regular basis.

Research shows that the following vitamins support prenatal and postnatal health:

Vitamins A, C, D, E, B-6 and B-12
Thiamin
Riboflavin
Niacin
Folic Acid
Calcium
Iron
Zinc

Spring Valley brand prenatal vitamins, sold primarily at Walmart, contain the above listed ingredients plus 4,000 IUs of vitamin A and 800 mcg (micrograms) of folic acid. Take your vitamin jars with you on your next prenatal doctor’s appointment. If you eat a healthy, balanced diet and supplement your diet with vitamins, you may not need to go out and purchase extra vitamins. If you are talking multivitamins formulated for hair and nail growth, for example, such vitamins contain many of the same vitamins as do prenatal vitamin formulas.

However you approach your prenatal and postnatal health, it is important to eat right, drink plenty of water and get adequate rest. Low-impact exercise should be undertaken with the advice of your health care provider.

Source: Spring Valley brand prenatal multivitamin