Pregnancy Vitamins

Sorry - I am sure this topic has been raised a million times on Huggies, BUT,
There are so many different Pregnancy Vitamins on the market, containing this and that or something else.
Exactly what should I/we be looking for in a Pregnancy Vitamin?
(Maybe one of the pharmacist ladies could help?)
There is so much difference in price between say a full pregnancy vitamin and a just folic acid tablet. All my midwives have ever said is to start taking folic acid, so am I wasting my money buying something else?
Due to my thyroid I have read that I should probably have extra iodine in my diet and I see some of the tablets contain iodine.....

I am wondering the exact same thing, its almost like "close your eyes and pick one" argh... so confusing!

Key ones are folic acid, iodine and maybe iron with vitamin C.

My new lot is a pregnancy multivitamin from a health food shop. I can tell the difference from the ones from the naturopath, but will judge after taking them for a few weeks if they're going to do the job or not. Because of my fructose mal, I really need a good multi, but interesting theory brought up the other night about taking multivitamins or supplements in general while TTC and pregnant.. is that the difference these day with kids have more allergies and behavioural problems???

I just take I-folic - blackmores. I heard somewhere recently that you shouldn't have too much folic acid after your first trimester. Could be wrong about this though can't really remember what I heard exactly

I have been taking preconception/pregnancy/breastfeeding tablets for a total of nearly 4 years now, that is a lot of money spent! I have another 2 weeks left of my Swisse pregnancy ones so am just contemplating what I should replace them with.
I take 2 vitC tablets each day also so I might just try to find a folic acid one with iodine I think.....
I have read through lots of the old threads and very interesting how many people have commented that their morning sickness was worse when they were on Blackmores tablets. I took Blackmores last pregnancy and had morning (all day) sickness until about 23ish weeks.
We have no chemist/pharmacy locally so I buy online - will look like a real druggo when I do my big order LOL. More VitC, raspberry leaf tablets (might as well buy now so I have them for later) folic acid, thyroid tablets, geeezzz....

The main things are folic acid and iodine i was told. Also iron is good too. A preg vitamin has these in them plus other things. If you have a good diet and get the right nutrients then juat uolic acid is fine but i always like to take the preg vitamins just incase i have missed something and baby isnt getting enough. There are so many options out there. Last time i was taking the top of the line stuff which was almost $100 a box of 100. This time im taking a cheaper brand, but i compared the two and they have exactly the same stuff in them. Dont know what the difference is beside price. As long as your getting 500mg ( i think it was mg) then you should be fine. Just be careful and read the label. Some brands you take one tablet a day some say take 2 a day.

As the other girls said, folic acid is definitely the main one to take. Iodine is very important for brain development, and fish oil is also great for both of you. Studies have also shown recently that Vitamin D plays a big part in a lot of the important processes. Depends how broad your diet is though as to whether you need a full multivitamin.

I use the Natures Own pregnancy one, you only need to take one capsule and its enteric coated so you dont get the fishy reflux! I don't take them every day though as my diet is pretty well rounded. The only thing I think I probably lack is the Omegas as we don't eat a lot of fresh fish.

In New Zealand it's recommended you take 0.8micrograms of folic acid daily 3months prior to and 3 months into pregnancy, and Iodine (can't remember the dose sorry! - maybe 500microg?) during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Folic acid for spinal/neurological development, and iodine as pregnancy/feeding puts a higher strain on the body for iodine so it needs replacing. Iodine is critical for thyroid function too.

I personally feel that pre-natal multivitamins, ESPECIALLY Elevit - are just emotional blackmailing you into expensive pee. If you have a good varied diet before pregnancy and didn't require a multivitamin, as long as you keep it up, you shouldn't need one during, just the folic acid and the iodine. If your Dr/midwife feels you need something extra, they'll let you know i.e. iron.

stacebebe wrote:
My new lot is a pregnancy multivitamin from a health food shop. I can tell the difference from the ones from the naturopath, but will judge after taking them for a few weeks if they're going to do the job or not. Because of my fructose mal, I really need a good multi, but interesting theory brought up the other night about taking multivitamins or supplements in general while TTC and pregnant.. is that the difference these day with kids have more allergies and behavioural problems???

The last thing I actually read about this suggested people who took folic acid throughout pregnancy instead of just until the start of the 2nd trimester had a higher incidence of allergies that those who only took it until 12weeks. Is that what you meant Stacebebe? My brain isn't working lol

Tickled*pink wrote:
I have read that taking folate through the entire pregnancy is linked with asthma in the bub.

That might have been what I read. There is too much of a good thing with some vitamins.