Help! I was taking a multivitamin with Vitamin A

[Cai3b]

I discovered a multivitamin I took for about 20 days between 8-12 weeks pregnant contained 5000 IU vitamin A (retinol palmitate); without realising vitamin A could cause birth defects. I am now freaking out about the harm I may have caused my baby. What do I do???

Not much you can do unfortunately, probably best to ask your midwife if that dosage us likely to cause problems.

Because of the teratogenic effects secondary to excessive vitamin A intake, the WHO recommends as safe during pregnancy a maximum dose of up to 10,000 IU daily or 25,000 IU weekly after the first 60 days of gestation [10,12,38]

I found this online op, so your vitamins contained half the recommended amount. Hopefully that helps reassure you a bit.

My mum ate loads of liver during all of her pregnancies. Pregnant women are now advised to avoid it because of the vitamin a, but none of us had any issues. Also I believe I've read that the recommended amount of vitamin a for pregnant women is cautiously on the low side and that it's actually ok to have more than that with minimal risks.

I had the same issue at the start of my pregnancy. I spoke to a pharmacist, who was so kind and reassuring. They explained that the dose I took was unlikely to cause any serious side effects, and they explained a bit more about vitamin A in pregnancy. I would urge you to speak to a pharmacist. That's what they are there for, and they will be only too happy to help you.

I did the same thing not knowing I was pregnant and I was using retin a cream. I spoke to gp on the phone and they reassured me that they don't think it would've affected baby.