Are vitamins really that important??

[Writerwannabe83]

I'm just asking because although I started my pregnancy with the good intention of taking pregnancy vitamins (my hubby bought me some Pregnacare) I have probably only taken about 8 of them in the 15 weeks I have been pregnant for I take a high dose of folic acid every day (5mg) and buy a specific breakfast cereal which is loaded with all sorts of vitamins and I have a relatively well balanced diet.

I mentioned to my friend that I wasn't taking any pregnancy vitamins and she didn't look too impressed....

Is it just me who doesn't??

If you eat a good & balanced diet- they probably aren't necessary.

I think most of ud take them for peace of mind !

In my area they recommend folic acid and vitamin D but aren't too fussed about the others so long as you're eating well. I struggle to eat well (fussy plus indigestion) so I do take the supermarket's own pregnancy multivitamin.

Do you get plenty of sunlight for vitamin D? Other than that I wouldn't be too worried tbh.

I was going to say "Yes of course they are, you fool - you cannot nourish your body or your baby's on chips alone!", and then realised you meant vitamin tablets.

Most people get everything they need from a healthy balanced diet, and there is no benefit in taking more than your RDA of most vitamins - you just dispose of the rest. It doesn't make you superhuman.

However, folic acid and vitamin D are recommended prior to conception and in the first trimester. I don't have any evidence, but this seems rooted in science.

I don't believe other vitamins are necessary. If you or your mw is concerned you can start taking iron, but you're better off maintaining your levels through a healthy diet.

Basically, lots if people feel very guilty and spend lots of money of special pregnancy vitamins. I believe this is a successful marketing campaign, rather than for the benefit of women.

I'm on my third pregnancy and for the first time am taking pregnacare vitamins, only because the sight of a vegetable makes me want to be sick as does fish and red meat. My normal healthy balanced diet has gone completely to pot, so I feel like I do need them.

Normally, I eat pretty healthily. However, I did take them for both pregnancies because smells of some food made me nauseous with my first, and I had morning sickness until after the first trimester with my second.

Thanks guys. I had my 16 week midwife appointment earlier and she said that based on recent blood results my iron levels are pretty low and suggested I at least get a supplement to address that. She gave me ideas of done foods that had good iron content but I can't say many of them sounded appealing....

Vitamins are not mandatory to take unless you feel like you need them, iron is a different issue. At end of the day they weren't available once.

I take pregacare for the folic acid and Vit D as recommended and also for iron as I became anaemic in my last pregnancy.

Also my diet was pretty sit for the first 16 weeks due to morning sickness so I probably needed a supplement.

If you want a good iron supplement that doesn't give you nasty side effects (some do) I can recommend Spatone.

Seconding Spatone. I drink it in fresh orange juice to boost absorbtion and it doesn't cause stomach problems. The tablets gave me stomach ache.

If you eat well and take the folic acid/vit D I can't see a problem. Most vitamins just create expensive pee, anyway.

Thanks for the tip - is it something I can buy from any supermarket?

A third for Spatone. Starting taking it at about 10 or 12 weeks after talking to the pharmacist (the whites of my eyes were turning blue!) and then the midwife approved and said she also recommends it when I asked her about it at the 16 week appointment.

I got mine in Boots when they had a three-for-two offer on, which is worth doing as a box costs about eight pounds and only lasts a couple of weeks as you're supposed to take two sachets a day if using it during pregnancy.

My area also only pushes for Folic Acid and Vitamin D. Just as well really, with my sickness I can't swallow Pregnacare etc (why make them so big?!) but have found the Seven Seas Trying to Conceive a nice size and they contain some iron too :)

Yeah, I also got it from Boots on special offer. It's naturally occurring iron rich water in little sachets - expensive when not on offer, though.

I took a multivitamin religiously - but then all I wanted to eat was tuna mayonnaise and McDonalds cheeseburgers

Apart from folic acid and vitamin D, I would prioritise a DHA/omega supplement. Based on a highly unscientific survey of newspaper articles, I felt it might be important!

I think that they are important actually, not because the baby will be affected without them but because growing a baby/ giving birth/ breastfeeding are all big things for your body to cope with. Vitamin tablets are a way of double checking that you are getting everything you need.

It's annoyingly hard to find robust evidence for vitamins in pregnancy except the obvious folic acid stuff. I took quite high doses of selenium, zinc, omega 3, vit D and general antioxidant/multivit before and during my IVF but as soon as the morning sickness hit I couldn't keep down much apart from ready salted crisps and ice lollies. Every tablet came straight back up.

Was there a specific reason why they've got you on 5mg folic acid? Sometimes it goes hand in hand with other risk of deficiencies which might increase your need for supplements. Eg if you are on it for possible clotting issues and the Dr adds something like Clexane then they usually also add extra vitamin D and calcium supplements. Missing them wouldn't harm the baby but may weaken your own body longer term. Babies are very good at just stripping whatever they want from your system!