Best Prenatal Vitamins

Written by Jack Lee

Prenatal vitamins are not created equal. Brands differ greatly in ingredients, vitamin quality and price. After reading this article, you’ll be able to differentiate the good prenatal vitamins from the average.

Prenatal vitamins universally include:

1. Folic Acid (400mcg-800mcg)- reduces a woman’s risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord birth defect (e.g. spina bifida).
2. Calcium (800mg-1000mg) - helps you and your child maintain a healthy bone density.
3. Iron (17mg-27mg) - iron helps both the mother and baby’s blood carry oxygen. Helps you avoid anemia.

These ingredients are the backbone of any worthwhile prenatal vitamin because they protect your child from the most common birth defects. Taking a prenatal vitamin with just these three ingredients would be extremely beneficial, but there are other ingredients out there that will help your child develop normally and help you have a more comfortable pregnancy.

While there are many benefecial vitamins and minerals, we’d like to talk about the 5 most important. If your prenatal vitamin doesn’t include these ingredients, you may want to consider finding one that does.

DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid)

Pregnant women consume far too little DHA. This is shocking because so many studies proves its importance for prenatal, maternal and neonatal health. Studies have shown that supplementing DHA in a mother’s diet can improve a child’s eye-hand coordination, motor skills, attention span, intelligence and is even associated with more mature sleep patterns in infants. The recommended amount is 200mg.

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Priobiotics

Probiotics may reduce the incidence childhood eczema of by 50%, according to a new study. Another study done by Finnish researchers confirms that probiotic supplements may reduce the frequency of gestational diabetes by 20 per cent (according to data published in the British Journal of Nutrition).

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CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q10)

This potent antioxidant may reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia. In one study, women receiving 200 mg of CoQ10 a day had a 10 per cent lower risk of developing pre-eclampsia than women on a placebo.