Gaileen Sutton

If you are pregnant, congratulations! It is a wonderful journey and one that you will not forget. Part of enjoying your pregnancy is staying as healthy as possible and prenatal nutrients can help with this. There are a few nutrients that you need to make sure any supplement has, and you need to look for them when choosing which prenatal vitamins you will take.

Folic acid is the first nutrient you need to take. It is most important in the very early stages of pregnancy. This is because the brain and nervous system are developing in the first few weeks of pregnancy and folic acid is critical to ensure that they are properly formed. The issue is that because women are not always aware of when they became pregnant, if you are trying to have babies, you should routinely make sure you are taking a folic acid supplement even before you become pregnant.

If the spinal cord and nervous system do not develop properly, the baby can be born with spina bifida. Depending on the extent of the illness, it can cause fluid to form on the baby’s brain and the spinal cord can be left exposed. This can lead to death or mental retardation and can be extremely serious and hard to correct. Because of this, if you are on medications which can affect the levels of folic acid in your body, you may want to speak with your doctor about extra folic acid supplements and monitoring the levels in your body.

Another of the nutrients which are critical to a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby is iron.

You need this to help build a proper blood supply for the baby as well as form a healthy placenta. This is what the baby will use to nurture and feed itself during the rest of the pregnancy so you need to make sure it forms properly. A lack of iron can lead to anemia which can result in serious health complications. If you find that you are getting queasy because of the iron you are taking, you may want to try a different form of iron. The two forms available are ferrous gluconate and ferrous fumerate. Iron supplements can cause constipation and dark colored stools which can be offputting but is often not serious.

Calcium is critical for growing strong bones in the developing baby. You want to make sure you have adequate calcium levels since the baby will actually pull calcium from your body into its own in order to build strong bones. Women who did not take supplements containing calcium would often report soft teeth. At its worst, a woman can lose her teeth if she does not get enough calcium.

Food is always the best way to get any nutrients but in the beginning this can be difficult. Women often experience morning sickness which makes it impossible for them to get much food down. A prenatal vitamin may be the only way of getting important nutrients to your baby in order to help it develop properly.

If you are experiencing morning sickness, there are several ways that you can get prenatal nutrients that do not involve a pill. You may be able to get liquid or powder forms of your prenatal nutrients so that you can mix them with liquids. This may be easier to keep down than a pill, since many women find swallowing solid objects can lead to vomiting.

There are a few times when getting the proper prenatal nutrients may be an issue. One problem is that some nutrients can often be sourced from animal products and so vegans may have issues with commercial prenatal vitamins. They can also have trouble getting enough iron from their diet as well so prenatal vitamins are even more important. By speaking with a health food store, you can find excellent vitamin supplements that do not have any animal products in them.

When researching information about Prenatal Support getting the right advice is most important. Please visit the Solgar site for up-to-date recommendations. Keith Woolley is a Research Director for Boots Herbal Stores.