Pregnant women demand adequate amount of the right vitamins and minerals before, during and after pregnancy. Consuming enough vitamins and following a nutritional diet is also very important to enable your body to keep up with the demands of breastfeeding. Below are some common types of vitamins likely to be prescribed to you by your doctor.

FOLIC ACID

Also referred to as folate, folic acid is one of the very first and widely prescribed supplement to pregnant woman. It is also given to women who intend to conceive and should be taken one month before conception until the end of first trimester of pregnancy. In fact, I was adviced to start taking folic acid when I wanted to start conceiving. A whole six months before I managed to conceive baby Clarisse.

Why the need for folic acid? Sufficient folic acid supplementation is crucial to protect against neural tube defects. The lack of folate could cause neural tube defects in an embryo during early part of pregnancy. It can cause birth defects severe enough to result in foetus fatality. That is why doctors strictly prescribe folic acid to ensure pregnant women get sufficient levels of folic acid to prevent neural tube defects. No less than 400mcg every day.

Apart from taking folic acid supplement as prescribed by your doctor, you can also get your daily dietary folate intake from five servings of fruits and vegetables and fortified food every day.

VITAMIN A

Vitamin A can be derived from two sources: plant-based foods and animal products. Plant-based Vitamin A is known as beta-carotene whereas those derived from animal products are retinyl esters.

Vitamin A found in most supplements are derived from animal products which can cause birth defects in the children of pregnant women if consumed in excess, over 10000 IU to be exact. Pregnant women should only consume pre-natal multi-vitamin supplement prescribed by their OB. The daily recommended intake of vitamin A in prenatal vitamins should not exceed 5000IU as many foods contain preformed vitamin A.

Beta-carotene on the other hand, found in fruits and vegetables, is a safe source of vitamin A for pregnant women. There is currently no tolerable upper intake level for beta-carotene because of it’s non-toxicity nature.

Carrots and spinach contains an abundant amount of Vitamin A. Pregnant women should consume a diet rich in vegetables and fruit. In fact, an average carrot provides 15,000 IU of safe beta-carotene form of vitamin A.

CALCIUM AND PHOSPHORUS

As the foetus grows, calcium plays an important role in fetal bone formation and structure. Phosphorus is needed to form the structure of both DNA and RNA.

Calcium supplements are prescribed by your obstetrician to prevent insufficient calcium level. For pregnant women, if there is not enough calcium in your body, calcium and lead are extracted from the mother’s bones and enters the blood stream. This would pose a risk of damaging the nervous system of the growing foetus. At a later stage of your life, you might experience higher risk of osteoporosis.

Although your pre-natal multi-vitamin supplement may contain calcium, your obstetrician would likely prescribe separate calcium pills for you during your entire pregnancy.

MINERALS: IRON, ZINC AND IODINE

Iron

Pregnant women are prone to iron deficiency. It is a common occurence especially during the last six weeks of pregnancy when you are unlikely to get sufficient iron from even the best iron-clad diet. If you experience severe morning sickness during the earlier stage of pregnancy, carrying twins, conceived again shortly after giving birth and experience heavy menstrual flow before pregnancy, you are at a higher risk of iron deficiency.

Why is your iron requirement considerably higher when you’re pregnant? Simply because iron is crucial in making blood for you, your baby and placenta. When you’re pregnant your body’s blood requirement goes up considerably.

Take adequate vitamin C too as it is needed for absorption of iron into your body. supplementation, however, can interfere with your body’s ability to absorb zinc from food. Therefore, it is common for zinc supplements to be given alongside iron supplements.

Zinc

Pregnant women needs adequate level of zinc to prevent preterm births and to a lesser extent, ensure healthy babies and smoother deliveries. Your pre-natal vitamins will contain sufficient zinc supplementation

It is common for zinc supplements to be given alongside iron supplements because extra iron interferes with your body’s ability to absorb zinc from food.

Iodine

As for the role of iodine during pregnancy, according to the WHO, the lack of iodine is the single greatest cause of mental retardation in babies. Growing foetus uses their mother’s iodine to develop thyroid hormones and allows the brain to grow normally. Your pregnancy iodine intake requirement is available in pre-natal supplement.