Basics of Prenatal and Postnatal Vitamin Supplementation

*Updated 10/2022

Prenatal and postnatal vitamin supplementation

It shouldn’t be difficult, confusing, or tiring to care for your health when you are pregnant or postpartum. However, with the ever increasing amount of products on the shelves, it is getting to be exactly that--difficult and confusing. For example, I’ve been sharing the misleading information given by designer supplements offering prenatal vitamins that don’t have folic acid in them.

Taking folic acid in pregnancy has been proven to decrease neural tube defects in babies. Unfortunately, the supplement industry is not FDA regulated which gives supplement companies lots of room to play with ingredients. Thus, we have seen many designer prenatal vitamins (PNV) hitting the market with methylfolate or other forms of folate that they use instead of folic acid.

This is a huge problem because the effectiveness of these supplements in preventing neural tube defects has not been studied. Nor should supplements containing forms of folate other than folic acid (such as 5-MTHF) should not be confused with the natural food folate found in fruits and vegetables. Methylfolate has not been shown to decrease the risk of neural tube defects in babies.

How do you choose??

There are lots of supplements with different ingredients, and something as simple as taking a prenatal vitamin has become seemingly quite complicated. That’s why in this discussion with Dr. Jenny Han PharmD, BCACP, we breakdown what you need to know about folic acid, supplements, and other nutrients and vitamins needed for a healthy pregnancy and postpartum phase.

Vitamins and minerals are important for the pregnancy

Vitamins and minerals play important roles in all of your body functions. Eating healthy foods and taking a prenatal vitamin every day should supply all the vitamins and minerals you need during pregnancy. A healthy balanced diet is the best way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need in pregnancy. However, a prenatal vitamin (PNV) supplements with the key vitamins and minerals in the event that you don’t get what you need daily in your diet alone. The purpose of a PNV is NOT to cover ALL the extra vitamin and mineral needs. That is why any one prenatal vitamin will have a portion of any specific vitamin and mineral that is needed.

Simple rules to follow when picking a PNV

• A higher cost does not mean better quality or better for you!

• AVOID THE DESIGNER PNV PROMOTED BY INFLUENCERS, SUBSCRIPTION COMPANIES, AND NATUROPATHS.

• “Natural” doesn’t mean good for you. The supplement industry makes billions of dollars from supplements that have little research or data. Companies touting that their PNV contains "natural ingredients" are using that as a marketing ploy to charge a premium for their designer PNV. BEWARE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER ASSISTING THESE COMPANIES!

• Take only one serving of your PNV each day. ‍Read the bottle to see how many pills make up one daily serving. If your obstetrician–gynecologist (ob-gyn) or other obstetric care provider thinks you need an extra amount of a vitamin or mineral, they may recommend it as a separate supplement.

• Always look THE NUTRITION LABEL TO SEE WHAT THE RECOMMENDED SERVING SIZE IS. SOME PNV MAY REQUIRE 2 PILLS TO GET THE PROPER AMOUNTS OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS.

• A healthy balanced diet is the best way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need in pregnancy. However, a PNV supplements with the key vitamins and minerals in the event that you don’t get what you need daily in your diet alone. The purpose of a PNV is NOT to cover ALL the extra vitamin and mineral needs in pregnancy. That is why PNV will ONLY have a portion of any specific vitamin and mineral that is needed.

• CHECK FOR THE "USP VERIFIED" MARK.

• BE SURE TO TELL YOUR OBSTETRICAL CARE PROVIDER ABOUT ANY SUPPLEMENTS YOU ARE TAKING.

Prenatal iron, iodine and choline supplementation

Additional info

Click here to watch a short video on choline

Click here for a post on choline from Dr. Jenny Han

Click here for a post on iron from Dr. Jenny Han

Prenatal DHA supplementation

Prenatal calcium and vitamin D supplementation

Additional info

Click here for more info on vitamin D screening and supplementation during pregnancy

Prenatal folic acid supplementation

Prenatal supplementation with other B vitamins and vitamins A and C

My recommendations for PNV!

Nature Made Prenatal Multi + Dha, 200mg

• add choline

One A Day Prenatal Advanced Complete Multivitamin with Brain Support with Choline, Folic Acid, Omega-3 DHA & Iron

Gummies:

• Gummy PNV Typically don’t have iron. Because of their design, they cannot carry enough of the ingredients necessary for supplementation. They should be taken as a last resort.
• Nature Made Prenatal Gummies with DHA, Choline & Folic Acid: add iron

• Vitafusion: add choline & iron

• One A Day: add choline & iron

VEGETARIAN:

• Rainbow Light Prenatal One Daily Multivitamin, Non-GMO, Vegetarian & Gluten Free: ADD DHA

VEGAN

• Deva vegan prenatal: add DHA

Postnatal supplementation

Click here to see a post on must-haves from Dr. Jenny Han!

Click here for a post on vitamin D from Dr. Jenny Han

Remember, supplements are meant to fill the gaps in your nutrition.

‍Eating a well-balanced diet rich with whole food rich in vitamins in minerals is important to your health and pregnancy as well!


To learn more from Dr. Han, connect with her on Instagram @thepostpartumpharmacist.

‍

‍