Folic Acid & Vitamin D supplements

[lozpants]

Hi, this is my first pregnancy so I'm not 100% sure on everything just yet. I ordered some Vitabiotics ultra folic acid from Amazon & some vitamin D supplements (pic attached).

However, now I've scared myself as I've just read online that pregnant women shouldn't take folic acid as it's a man made artificial vitamin, and you should take folate instead?!

Am I just scaring myself or should I invest in some folate? If so, does anyone have any recommendations? Or are the products I'm using okay for me to take?

Sorry for so many questions as I said I'm new to all of this and haven't had a midwife or GP app yet x

I’m pretty sure folic acid is highly recommended for up to 12 weeks but not necessary after the 1st trimester.

I took Pregnacare which was an all in 1 vitamin.

Please be careful buying from amazon unless you know who is supplying as I read an article a few weeks ago about fake products being sold xx

Oops, pressed too soon. From what I remember it lowers risk of spina bifida.

Folic acid is what my doctor told me to take three months before getting pregnant and in my first trimester, as well as vitamin D, as long as you have a good diet, you shouldn't need anything else.
Just check your multi vitamins as your told not to take Vitamin A supplements when pregnant. As it can potentially cause conventional birth defects.
I think you may have scared yourself, bless you! But please do check you multi vitamin content before you start taking them ❤️

You can just buy the standard issue ones from the supermarket or chemist. They do the same job, just cheaper.

Folic acid is recommended - my booking in letter says to take it to at least 12 weeks. With baby #1 my midwife advised me to take it the whole way through pregnancy along with vitamins b, c and D.

I ended up getting pregnancy vitamins as I kept reading that other vitamins are also important, like iodine, magnesium etc. follow acid is prescribed around the world and it's fine. There is a research that folate might be better but who knows.

I would be careful buying the vitamins separately as it’s easy to accidentally take too much of one thing (sometimes a packet might list one vitamin as the headline, but contain other things)

If you pick a ‘pregnancy’ tablet such as pregnacare o another brand, you at least know you’re getting safe amounts of everything.

Plus as previous poster says, there are other things that your body needs such as Iron and B vitamins

Folate is the more 'bio-available' form of folic acid. Some people can have difficulty absorbing it, so folate is better for them, but if you're taking it every day, folic acid should be fine. And yes, you need it! It's not dangerous at all, quite the opposite.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/vitamins-minerals-supplements-pregnant/

Thanks everyone, I'll continue taking the folic acid until my other half can get to a supermarket to get me some pregnacare. Thank you x

Congrats! Yes, folic acid is essential to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida.

Pregnacare is expensive (about £16 a packet at boots!). I've bought a pregnancy multi-vitamin from both asda and Tesco which were about £3 a packet, and the same amount of folic acid and other nutrients as pregnacare.

Follow the advice on the NHS website, and also read up about foods to avoid- soft cheese, liver etc.

If you have a good diet and are healthy expensive pregnacare isn’t necessary. Folic acid and vitamin D are essential. Interesting read www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/pregnancy-supplements-dont-help-just-take-vit-d-and-folic-acid/

I took just folic acid and vit D for months before getting pregnant and then the first few weeks after conceiving, I then got sold by the hype and bought some pregnacare max plus (or whatever the most expensive version was) I took the entire course but it really exacerbated my morning sickness, I then just went back to good ol' seperate folic acid and vit d lol. I'm now 34+4 and things are going swimmingly. _

I take a pregnancy multi vitamin (pregnacare is one brand but there are others too) which contains folic acid and vitamin d along with lots of other things. I felt like it was a godsend when I was surviving on carbs and salty snacks in my first trimester as there's no way I was eating a balanced diet and giving baby all the nutrition it needed.
I'm 23 weeks now and still taking supplements everyday.

I used the Boots version of Pregnacare which is essentially the same (contains the same amount of folic acid and vit D) and it’s much cheaper.

And yes, folic acid is fine. It is the synthetic form of folate which is found naturally in food but we often can’t consume the recommended dose for pregnancy (you need much more when you’re pregnanct) and folic acid is therefore recommended to top it up. But if you can, eat lots of food rich in folate (like leafy greens) too.

@PrinnyPree
pregnacare max plus (or whatever the most expensive version was) I took the entire course but it really exacerbated my morning sickness

What makes you think it was the pregnacare? Just curious because I had hideous morning sickness from about 6 to 16 weeks but I never linked it with the pregnacare (I bulk bought them from Amazon whilst they were on offer!).

OP, I took folate whilst ttc and undergoing IVF (so for years really and it's lots more expensive than folic acid!) but then when I got pregnant, I switched to multivitamin which only has folic acid in anyway. If it weren't good enough, the NHS would recommend folate instead so don't worry. You can always top up natural folate by eating spinach etc.

I had to give up on pregnacare as it have me raging headaches. Did for both my pregnancies. Just taking the individual vitamins now

Hey OP, as others have said, folic acid is good and recommended, so you are fine! But it is true that it is man-made and folate is the natural version. Some people can struggle to absorb folic acid but wouldn't struggle with folate. However, as PP said, if you're taking every day this is probably going to be a non-issue.

I decided to take folate due to this and also due to some other reading I did. I took the Solgar folate, 400mcg as is recommended. I then switched to Terra Nova pregnancy vitamin (you can get on Amazon, at Wholefoods or some health shops) which included the natural folate and a bunch of other things.

I have done heaps of research and some of the pregnancy supplements have super high quantities of things like vitamin B12 which you don't actually need in such high doses which is why I went with Terra Nova as had sensible and recommended amounts.

My midwife said you only need folic acid/folate and vit D, but if you are nauseous and not getting a varied diet, it's good to take a prenatal with other bits in too.

Hope that is kind of helpful!

Also if you need iron, or b vitamins, try Floradix / Floravital! It is honestly amazing, so easy to absorb and does not constipate in the slightest. x

I’m taking Sainsburys own brand folic acid and Home Bargains vitamin D. You don’t need fancy branded supplements and folate vs folic acid will be an irrelevance for most people. Just follow the NHS website if in doubt as it is based on good quality evidence.

@IslayBrigid thank you that's really really helpful x

Pregnecare often have 3 for 2 on their website making them cheaper.

If you have bad morning sickness pregnecare might make it worse as for both myself , a good friend of mine who’s also pregnant and my cousin all took it and it made us so so sick. I told my midwife and she said it’s known for that due to the iron in it. I am on a prescribed dose of folic acid due to some meds I’m on, so I take that but you can get just folic acid from Holland and Barrett and vitamin D from there too. The vitamin D is really good and I have just had my 20 week scan and all was perfect . If your sickness is ok then pregnecare will be fine but if was horrendous for me personally

Hi all,
I was wondering if you could help me please, 9+2 weeks and I've been advised by the midwife to take Vitamin D as well the Folic Acid I have already been taking since before pregnancy.
However the only Vitamin D I can find in the shop is the high dose 75µg, is this safe to take during pregnancy? Midwife didn't say what dose and everywhere is sold out of the normal dosage? Many thanks