Pregnacare supplements or just Folic Acid?

[ClaireS75]

Hi - any views on whether Pregnacare supplements are a good idea? Some advice I have seen suggests that extra supplements are not needed - just 400mg of folic acid per day. I am 9 weeks pregnant.

Thanks

I think basically the baby'll take whatever it needs from you and it's you who'll miss out. Folic acid is something that we commonly lack in our diet so the baby may miss out with potentially serious consequences. Hence me taking the multi-vits whilst pg and until I feel fully recovered afterwards. Suppose if you have a really healthy diet it matters less, but I definitely have days where I'm too knackered to do anything too ambitious and couldn't stomach it anyway (32 weeks pg at mo with nr 2)

I have used Pregnacare supplements + Omega 3 all the way through my pregnancy.

I would say it depends what your diet is like. I went off all veg at one point so felt like I needed the extra supplements.

If your diet is well-balanced and you are getting all the necessary vitamins from what you are eating then folic acid is just fine I would say.

You could always ask your doc or midwife and see what they recommend???

Good advice - thanks. So far have only taken FA but may now start the Pregnacare becos too tired/sick to guarantee intake of '5 a day' etc.

I took the santogen pro natal and found that they made me really sick if I didnt take them on a full stomach which I havent had for the past 3 1/2 months - so just took folic acid.

i take pregnacare (when i remember) because calcium is also a biggie, i have lost 4 teeth due to having babies and would quite like to keep the rest! (thankfully they have all been at the back so i dont look like too much of a toothless hag)

Geordie Mac - interesting what you say about being sick - I took my first Pregnacare after dinner (soup and bread all I could manage) last night and threw up about an hour later - another reason I was asking the Q - don't want that to happen every time! But will try one again tonight!

Agree with the other posts. If you have a fab diet then you probably only need the folic acid, but my diet so far (9+3) has been awful as can only face food I fancy, which so far has not included veg

Don't think it can do any harm to take the pregnacare, so I figure better to take them and my body flush out what isn't needed than me or the little pod to miss out.

I take them fist thing when I get up - are you supposed to eat before?

I took them for first trimester as I was eating very little and worried about getting enough of everything. Had a visit with my midwife on wednesday and she said it's a good idea to take them but just every 2 or 3 days now that I am past 12 weeks til the end. I'm generally not a vitamin taker as I have a good diet but what I can eat has been so varied I didn't want to take chances. I took mine last thing before I went to sleep to reduce that chances of throwing them back up!

I've been told by a nutritionist that Pregnacare are not the best brand. They are also expensive compared to other supplements containing the same ingredients - I'm currently taking Sainsbury's own brand pregnancy supplements, which are a lot cheaper but contain almost exactly the same vitamins and minerals.

I think it's like adding the word "wedding" to the beginning of any sales pitch, adding "pregnancy" or "baby" can double the price of something quite ordinary. They only thing you actually need out of the ordinary is folic acid, which a lot of normal multivitamins contain anyway in the same concentration as Pregnacare.

Also the pregnacare doesn't contain vitamin A which most multivitamins do contain and should be avoided during pregnancy. Haven't found any non-pregnancy multivitamin without vit. A. I'm taking Tesco's own brand which is also much cheaper.

If you are going to take anything other than folic acid I have to agree to take calcium. It's not for the baby it's for you. The baby will take the calcium out of your bones in order to get enough. Calcium supplements will help prevent bone damage to you.

pregnacare gave me terrible indigestion. sanatogen for pregnant women was better for that reason.

Hi All,

I am 21 weeks pg and taking pregnacare with Omega 3. but it does not have any Calcium in it. I dont have a very high diary intake and being vegetarian not sure which foods i shud take for the calcium. Any ideas or any recommended supplements?