Pregnancy is a special time for any woman. The wait for the soft, gorgeous, new little one is a rosy experience. VitaMaker’s pre-natal formulas make these moments all the more special by taking care of your body’ nutrients requirement and in turn that of your baby’s. This is high time when you have to be very particular about your nutrients intake so that you are a healthy mother of a healthy baby. However, despite being particular, you may miss out or may have a low intake of some vital nutrients required by the body. VitaMaker brings to you potential multivitamin supplements from some leading brands, as its pre-natal formula. These formulas are good even for lactating moms when their nutritional intake has to be equivalent to that of their pregnancy. Let’s explore these briefly.
Pre-Natal Care by Twinlab. A strong nutritional supplement is rich in vitamins (especially immunity boosting vitamin C), minerals, and iron. Good for both a pregnant and lactating woman, this formula fortifies you to the core and you pass this nourishment on to your little one. Two capsules a day supply 22 vital and different nutrients to your body. In the purview of pregnant women, it has National Institute of Health’s (NIH) suggested quantity of folic acid. Folic acid averts the chances of neural tube defect in a newborn child. Undoubtedly, the product applies well with the women trying for pregnancy as well. This pre-natal formula comes in a pack of 120 capsules. A couple of capsules daily with meals yield best results.
Pre-Natal Multi-vitamin Formula by NOW Foods. This pre-natal formula is also a multi-vitamin supplement meant for nourishing pregnant and lactating women. The supplement fills up your nutritional gaps owing to daily nutrients loss during processing, cooking, or storing the food. The pack has 240 capsules with a recommended dosage of four pre-natal care capsules per day.
Just Once, Prenatal One Multivitamin tablets by Rainbow Light. Another best selling pre-natal formula available at VitaMaker, the supplement aims to nourish pregnant women and lactating mothers. The formula has extra iron and folic acid with calcium and magnesium. This pre-natal formula also has fresh ginger juice for easy digestion. The best part with this pre-natal formula is that, it is totally herbal based. You can take the mild supplement even without meals. To add to your delight, the pack has 25 tablets extra against the standard 90. The recommended dosage is one tablet per day.
Complete Prenatal System from Rainbow Light. The pre-natal formula provides nutrition meant for pregnant and lactating mothers. The supplement has the goodness of whole foods and plants derived digestive enzymes for a healthy pregnancy and smooth delivery. Therefore, along with your body, nourish your baby growing inside you as well. This is the time when you can provide strong structural fundamentals to your baby’s body. The supplement is enriched with calcium, folic acid, and iron. The best part is that iron in this will not lead to constipation, as is the case with iron supplements usually. The benefits do not end here. The pre-natal formula also alleviates the pregnancy related discomforts such as swelling, cramps, nausea, fatigue, and heartburn due to magnesium, potassium, vitamin B, and energy generating green foods present in the formula. Digestive enzymes derived from plant source, fresh ginger juice, and chamomile, present in the formula, can overcome digestive discomforts, standard complications during pregnancy. These elements facilitate easy digestion coupled with optimum assimilation of food. The pack has 360 tablets. A dosage of six tablets per day is recommended for pregnant women and lactating mothers.
What Are Prenatal Vitamins?
For a mother's health, and the health of her baby, she is advised to take "prenatal vitamins." These are specially formulated multivitamins that make up for any nutritional deficiencies in the mother's diet during pregnancy. While the supplements contain numerous vitamins and minerals, their folic acid, iron, and calcium content are especially important.
Why Do Pregnant Women Need High Levels of Folic Acid, Iron and Calcium? Folic acid can reduce your risk of having a baby with a serious birth defect of the brain and spinal cord. This is called the "neural tube." A baby with spina bifida, the most common neural tube defect, is born with a spine that is not closed. The exposed nerves are damaged, leaving the child with varying degrees of paralysis, incontinence, and sometimes mental retardation.
Neural tube defects develop in the first 28 days after conception, before many women realize they are pregnant. Because about half of all pregnancies are unplanned, the U.S. Public Health Service recommends that all women of childbearing age get 400 micrograms of folic acid each day. In fact, the FDA now requires that all flour products, such as breads, buns and bagels, be fortified with extra folic acid. Women who have had a prior child with a neural tube defect should discuss with her doctor before her next pregnancy about the appropriate dose of folic acid. Studies have shown that taking a larger dose (up to 4,000 micrograms) at least one month before and during the first trimester may be beneficial.
There are natural sources of folic acid: green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans and citrus fruits. It's also found in many fortified breakfast cereals and some vitamin supplements.
Calcium during pregnancy can prevent a new mother from losing her own bone density as the fetus uses the mineral for bone growth.
Iron helps both the mother and baby's blood carry oxygen.
While a daily vitamin supplement is no substitute for a healthy diet, most women need supplements to make sure they get adequate levels of these minerals.
Are All Prenatal Supplements the Same? No, they're not. Look for one that contains approximately:
4,000 and 5,000 IU (international units) of vitamin A
800 and 1,000 mcg (1 mg) of folic acid
400 IU of vitamin D
200 to 300 mg of calcium
70 mg of vitamin C
1.5 mg of thiamine
1.6 mg of riboflavin
2.6 mg of pyridoxine
17 mg of niacinamide
2.2 mcg of vitamin B-12
10 mg of vitamin E
15 mg of zinc
30 mg of iron
Your doctor or midwife can also advise you on certain brands. In some cases, your health care provider will give you a prescription for a certain type of prenatal vitamin.
Will prenatal vitamins make me nauseous? Some prenatal vitamins can cause nausea in an already nauseous woman. If your prenatal vitamins make you sick, talk to your health care provider. He or she may be able to prescribe a different kind of prenatal vitamins (for example, chewable vitamins as opposed to those you swallow whole may be better tolerated by some women).
