When can you stop taking pregnacare?

[Chloeneedshelp]

Do you need folic acid throughout?

The first trimester is when you need folic acid the most.

I stopped folic acid at about 20 weeks I think. No particular reason, I just kept forgetting to take it.

You need folic acid until 12 weeks and vitamin D throughout, although I took folic acid until I ran out. You don't have to take a multivitamin assuming you have a balanced diet.

I'm at "better safe than sorry" kind of person and have been taking a prenatal multivitamin since we started trying (took 18 months to conceive) and switched to one that included DHA at around 12 weeks. I'm currently 36+5 and plan to continue to take it until after LB is here.

I'd take it until 12 weeks at least that being said I "stopped" taking my vitamins at 7/8 weeks. By stopped I mean kept throwing them up with awful morning sickness so stopped trying by 10 weeks! 12 weeks minimum is what most midwives recommend though I believe

I've heard a few women say that pregnacare vitamins made them feel awful. I think it was put down to the Vit K or something.
I ended up taking a standard multivitamin, vitamin D and folic acid until about 32 weeks when they ran out!

I stopped taking mine at 8 weeks as made me feel awful! My mum made a good point that her generation never took them at all and we all turned out fine..!

12 weeks but only because my sickness was so bad. You only actually need vitamin d after that, you don't need the multivitamins.

I still take mine when I remember (14+2 now) but I also have had sickness so a fair few of them came straight back up.

My mum made a good point that her generation never took them at all and we all turned out fine..!

Well yeah, apart from all the babies that died due to neural tube defects because of the lack of folic acid. What a daft thing to say.

I have taken pregnacare throughout my pregnancy, 37+5 now and will continue until I going labour.
Not once felt unwell ftom taking it, in fact, no sickness whatsoever and no anaemia (of which I'm severlry prone too). 100% recommend

Don't stop taking vitamins. You'll have the child then your immune systems will be constantly attacked as they'll pick up everything!

Greedyduck - you're a marketers dream!

Obviously if you can take them great! But if you are getting side effects it's not worth making yourself feeling any worse :)

Not really sharon2016, I don't take Pregnacare, just own brand folic acid and vit D.

Folic acid is very important in the first trimester, but since your mum's clearly an expert in fetal development, maybe everyone should listen to her anecdotal evidence instead.

I take the Boots own pregnancy tablets. They have ginger in them (can't taste it) which helped with my morning sickness in the first few months.

As PP say, you only need folic acid for the first 12 weeks, but there is no harm in taking it after. Vitamin D is the main vitamin you need for the rest of your pregnancy and your body struggles to store it so I think best to take it in a tablet every day (although no drama if you forget every once in a while!)

Provided you have a fully balanced diet, you don't really need to take any supplements, but I know I don't eat a full balanced diet every day so I've continued to take them throughout and will take post natal ones after I give birth for a while as well.

It really depends on you and what you want to do.

Agree Greedyduck - we're advised to take them for a reason.

My midwife advised me to keep taking pregnacare throughout so I've just carried on. My iron levels are excellent so must be doing me some good!

Everytime I tell the midwife that I'm taking Pregnacare, they seem very happy and tell me to keep on taking them. My iron levels are also very good so far. I'll keep taking them until I've had the baby then switch to the one for breast feeding mums

You can stop taking Pregnacare at any time, as there is no requirement whatsoever to take a branded product.

It is usually advised that pregnant women take folic acid (alone, or in any multi-vitamin which contains enough) at least the end of the first trimester.

If you are confident that your diet is supplying enough, then you don't need to take anything at all. If OTOH you have morning sickness, it's probably worth taking it in case you are not absorbing from your food what you would expect were you not chucking up frequently.

Take HCP advice if you have recently talked anti-malarials or are in certain epilepsy medicines, as they interfere with folic acid levels and individual advice is indicated.

i would keep taking the vitamins throughout pregnancy. your body needs extra nutrients for example calcium in pregnancy and particularly when breastfeeding ( calcium requirements more than double). you can get vitamins for free on nhs and there is no harm to your baby so I would advise taking them from conception until you stop breastfeeding.