Outcome of not taking prenatal vitamins

[My2boysaremyworld]

Hi just looking for moms who have given birth and didn't take any prenatal vitamins. Was everything ok with baby? I was taking them up until about 9 weeks but from then I'm physically struggling to get them in. They are either not going down or I'm bringing them back up. Iv been trying to eat foods with vitamin D in. I'm freaking out a bit as I was borderline spina bifida my mom was told. Iv got a hole in the base of my back and there is some curve to my spine we found out in my first labour when they gave me the epidural.
I have tried different types of vitamins, medicine, gummies and they were horrendous tasting

Can you get some tiny vitamin D and folic acid pills? And maybe try and swallow them with some yogurt? I really struggled with the big prenatal vitamins. I think it's the folic acid and vitamin D which are the most important ones.

You only really need to take folic acid. I am unsure what ‘borderline Spina Bifida’ is but I understand that if you have a family history of SB you should be taking a much higher dose of folic acid as a precaution.
Have you seen your GP about this?

I didn’t take multivitamins till thr sickness was over and I bought the gummy version. I took folic acid with vit d as it was a much smaller tablet

Not recommended obviously, but you gotta keep trying. Make sure you are eating foods with folic acid added! Like flour, cereals, etc. Make sure you are getting 5+ serving of vegetables everyday. If you can’t stomach them, juice them into a smoothie and use pineapple juice to mask the taste.

do a google of all the foods that are rich in folate and make sure you are eating them.

I do know women who never took prenatals and sadly, every last one of them had babies with Spina Bifida (I’m from a poor country in Latin America). https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/spinabifida/facts.html

I'll admit I was absolutely dreadful at taking mine.
But I craved citrus fruit and ate enormous amounts of clementines during first and second trimester. Later found out that citrus fruit is high in folate/folic acid so I probably got enough that way.

My son came out perfectly healthy.

I had severe hyperemesis in all my pregnancies. My doctor gave me tiny folic acid tablets and vitamin D tablets because she said they were the most important in early pregnancy- I couldn’t manage the pregnancy multivitamins but these were so small that I kept them down about half the time (all my kids are totally fine).
So maybe try and find some small folic acid and vitamin D tablets for now, you can always take the multivitamins later in pregnancy if the sickness starts to improve.
If you’re able to eat then you can also get a fair amount of folic acid and the other vitamins you need from a healthy diet (look for bread/breakfast cereals that are fortified with folic acid).

Those tiny folic acid and vitamin D tablets couldn't make anybody sick. You hardly know you've swallowed them.

The fact you say some taste horrible is irrelevant you need to be taking them.

try taking them with food at different times of day. You aren’t I presume being sick after all meals??? If you are sick after taking them you need to take more. Your attitude seems odd. There’s a reason you need them so stop looking for people on the internet to justify you not doing it

@My2boysaremyworld you'll be fine. For starters, the neural tube closes around 4 weeks of pregnancy, so around the time you start to test positive. The NHS page as some info on that: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/spina-bifida/ At this point, it is either closed or not but given you were takind the vitamins, there is a very high chance that everything is okay.

Even if you didn't take it all, the risk of SB is very, very low if there is no family history and plenty of women get pregnant without realising it and have healthy babies. In your case there probably is a bit of a genetic predisposition but your own spine issues could be due to your mum not getting enough FA at the right time - which your baby likely did. If you want to see some historic data from Japan, this article explains it well: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277080699_Awareness_of_folic_acid_use_increases_its_consumption_and_reduces_the_risk_of_spina_bifida  Supplementing FA halves the risk of SB but considering you start with a risk of around 2-3 births with SB for every 10,000 live births in the developed world, it halves an already really small risk.

And don't forget that about 40% of adults can't absorb folic acid (they'd need methylfolate) but plenty of pregnant women pop folic acid anyway without any thoughts about whether their body can absorb it.

The UK is particularly bad for FA deficiency and it is important to take it, but it is actually more important to take FA before getting pregnant, as neural tube defects develop really early on in pregnany. There are benefits to taking FA after the 1st trimester, e.g. reduced risk of pre-eclampsia, but in terms of SB, you are very likely fine. You can get, e.g. Pregnacare, as liquid, which would probably be worth a try but don't overthink it too much.

I just take folic acid and Vit D, they are tiny, as others said. Couldn’t swallow the big ones either without getting sick.

The pregnancy vitamins made me feel sick. I thought it was morning sickness, but it was the vitamins!

I have a friend who was so sick she couldn’t keep them down. Her son is absolutely fine. But you should still try everything you can to get the folic acid in - just because one baby is fine doesn’t mean another would be.

The 7 seas pre conception vitamins are really tiny and have no taste

I did this in my first pregnancy and took advice from Mumsnet and thought it was ok and my LO had severe reflux and multiple food allergies. I would never risk it again. With my second, I forced myself to have the vitamins and LO is ok.

You don’t need the prenatal vitamins. Just get individual folic acid and vitamin d, the pills I have are tiny. Definitely prioritise folic acid

I use a vit D mouth spray - Boots or H&B. Tastes minty. Not for pregnancy reasons mind.

all food is PACKED WITH VITAMINS. ALL. just eat varied and drink water

I took a general multivitamin before pregnancy which had folic acid in anyway and then just switched to a pregnancy vitamin mix instead when I found out.

I’ve had HG in all pregnancies and can’t keep prenatals down (including folic acid). This pregnancy I found chewable vitamin D tablets in holland and Barrett in the UK that I could sometimes stomach! In case that’s an option for you? I’ve three kids and all have been healthy (if it helps ease your anxiety) but deffo best to prioritize some form of intake to match your own needs (rather than the big multi vits) if you can x

Is liquid better? Feroglobin is liquid and has the key things you need

I struggled with the pregnacare ones when I was pregnant with ds1 but I did manage to swallow them if I drank lots of really cold water with them.

You can get oral sprays for vitamin D at least, look in Boots. Not sure about folic acid but probably worth a Google?

www.healthysupplies.co.uk/pregnancy-spray-betteryou.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAuNGuBhAkEiwAGId4aiaRax0YNI1TdQ4l2KVX9gOsuBnLixlv04pG-HSR1Jeh4Y3-huNsSRoC2uEQAvD_BwE#fo_c=2439&fo_k=4c25bf80e353c103733a76380af3a556&fo_s=gplauk minty spray, dead easy!

there isn't borderline spina bifida there is a few forms of SB you more than likely have a mild form. try and take your vitamins but if you can't then you can't then you can't. try liquid vitamins. incidentally you can be diagnosed with an mri scan if you want to investigate your spinal problems further .

I didn't take them.