Vitamins?

[Grace185]

Hi guys, I’m only just 5 weeks tomorrow so very early days. I’ve been taking folic acid (400), vit c (200) and vit d (25), is that enough? Or do you recommend a proper pregnancy vitamin?

They're the main ones.
If you take a pregnancy vitamin, it contains them all in one though 😊 so saves taking them all separate

Yes for what they say are "essential".
Multivitamins are more convenient, have all you need in to top up levels for pregnancy. I take omega 3 on top of mine too. I used to take a lot more vitamins pre pregnancy but some are a not recommended so are just sitting on the shelves until after birth.

The nhs only recommends vitamin d and folic acid. If you have a varied diet and eat lots of fruit and veg that should be enough. I was wary of the iron in pregnancy multivitamins as it can lead to constipation which I can struggle with anyway so didn’t want to make it worse!

Thanks a lot guys. I eat a lot of vegetables and have a pretty varied diet with a lot of chicken and eggs. Yes I was wary of multi bits as I used to take them but then read about vit a. Ill stick with what I’m on and eating lots of spinach etc at the moment

Pregnancy multivitamins don’t contain vitamin a I don’t think just FYI! X

I've always taken the pregnacare max ones :) they have everything in them x

You only need the folic acid and vitamin D if you have a good diet. If you start to feel nauseous and your diet gets more restricted (some days I could only stomach plain home-made chips and ice-pops!) you might want to switch to a pregnancy multivitamin.

@AegonT great tip thanks!

Even with a varied diet most people don't get all the vitamins their body needs, the demand is higher in pregnancy.
Pregnancy multivitamins do not contain vitamin A, my normal multivitamins do.
I had huge amounts of iron in my twin pregnancy and it didn't cause me any problems and my iron levels after birth were ok despite heavy blood loss.

I don't think you're supposed to take vitamin A when pregnant.
Hence why the pregnancy vitamins don't contain any

@AegonT why do you think that? I disagree. For example the baby centre website says you need 82mg of vitamin c a day. I’ve already exceeded this from just eating two satsumas today and that doesn’t include all the other fruits and vegetables I have/ will eat with my meals. I think if that were true that we didn’t get what we needed from a varied diet the NHS would certainly recommend taking multivitamins in pregnancy but they don’t, they only recommend folic acid and vitamin d as they are the only ones we can’t get enough of in our diet. I just wondered where you got the information that most people don’t get enough? I’d maybe take a pregnancy multivitamins if I had had bad morning sickness as obviously if you’re throwing up you might not get all you need, same as if you don’t have a varied diet. We can’t store any extra vitamins in our bodies they just pass through us so no point in taking extra! X

Oh sorry @AegonT I didn’t mean to tag you I meant to tag @Chelyanne in my last comment! X

I take the sevens seas conception tablets as they are tiny (contraceptive pill size) so can force them down even if feeling ropey. I eat a good diet (my giant bowl of cereal every day is of course fortified so covers a lot of the RDA) but I can afford the supplement so don't see any harm in taking it as well just to be sure.

I take the pregnacare ones that also come with fish oil capsules. My baby feels bloomin' massive though, at 29 weeks, and at my 20 week scan the three main measurements they take for size were in the 80's and 90's centile wise. I just started taking my prenatals once every other day last week. My diet is pretty good all round but I wanted to be sure I was getting enough of everything. This is my 4th pregnancy and I'm 37 and I'm having an easier time with it than I did with my others, and with my others, I only took the folic acid and iron. I do attribute this to the extra vitamins, as my diet was good with the first three too. Interestingly, I have had far less sickness with this one.

I take all mine separate because I already take ferrous fumerate (iron) on a prescription.

I take:
Methylfolate 400 (natural form of folic acid - I read some women can’t absorb folic acid very well as it’s the synthetic form of folate)
Vitamin D
Omega 3
B12
I also take myo inositol which was for ovulation purposes but can be continued as it regulates blood sugar. It also has an extra 200mg folate in it.

It’s a bit of a faff doing them all separately though Xxx

@katiemumma20 The body can store fat-soluble vitamins.
I for one can't stand fish, so I supplement. Most people have foods they don't like or don't eat enough of them daily, supplementing covers the gaps in the diet without increasing calorie intake.

@Chelyanne ah I didn’t realise you meant things like omega 3 too! I did consider an omega 3 capsule but I eat fish regularly so think I’m covered. Thanks for the info x