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I know a lot will have different opinions in this but I'm not sure on it!
Is it necessary to take pregnancy vitamins? My doctor said that if I have a balanced diet then all l need is folate..
I was taking vitamins a few weeks back but never bought a new pack when the ran out and not sure if I should go buy some more.
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From what I've heard, vitamins are only of some use if you are vitamin deficient. I guess I'd go with smart eating too.
Maybe I would if all I could stomach was toast for weeks, or maybe if I had a history of something like low iron - although at some stage that often gets checked for anyway.
I was on blackmores from the minute I found out I was pregnant (about 3 1/2 weeks) to about 20 weeks.
I got mad at them. On the bottle it talks about taking the vitamins and having a healthy baby. My bub was anything but healthy.
So, I stopped taking them.
I dont think they do any harm by taking them.
And healthy eating is good, but there are stuff in vitamins that you may not be able to get through food.
I take them when ttc and thru the first trimester for the folate and cos my diet is pretty shocking during first tri. I don't really bother after that. I've read that it's not good to take folate throughout the whole pg, and the amount of iron in multis is pretty minute compared to separate iron supps if that's what you're needing.
Folate, calcium and iron are the main ones.
Pregnancy vitamins are just normal vitamins with folate pretty much... So if you have a healthy diet, with a wide range of food, I would say you only need to take folate and watch that you are eating enough iron.
If your diet becomes more restricted with what you can and want to eat, try taking the preg vitamins or a multi vitamin and folate.
X
I just took folate tablets with a balanced diet as the multi vitamins would make me sick and I'd end up puking them back up within 15 minutes of taking them, which kind of defeated the purpose. I think if you have a healthy diet, a probiotic is actually more important than a multi-V, so that you know the flora bub is going to cop a mouth full of on they way out is good flora and not in imbalance that can lead to things like reflux.
Folate is important.
The blood tests include iron levels. If you have low iron you need supplements but if your iron is fine don't bother. There is a liquid iron called Floradix. IMO it's way better than the tablets.
Calcium is important too but if you're eating lots of dairy then you probably don't need supplements.
I took one preggy vitamin a week just in case I was low on anything that I didn't know about.
I just quickly googled folate in late pregnancy cos I couldn't remember what I had read. Here's one article http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170018.php but I also remember reading a more scientific explanation of it as well. Haven't got time to look it up now. But yeah.. It made me not want to continue the folate past the recommended 3 months so that included the multi. I took fefol with Ds for the iron and he has asthma now which we don't have a strong history of in our families. Started when he was 3 but will prob grow out of it. No asthma yet for Dd and I didn't take anything in late pg with her. *shrug*
Personally I think they are a big scam to part you with your money. I only ever took folate with mine and some iron with #4 because I was low. The important thing to remember is that you don't need vitamins unless you are deficient in them, even if m/s means you diet is poor in the early days, you still may not be deficient in anything.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this topic! I have been taking folate since I started TTC 4 months ago now, I think they are 500mg. The recommended is 400mg so am I getting too much of the folate? My bottle is nearly empty so will be getting some more.
Liz - that is an interesting read on the children's asthma risk linked to the folic acid taken in late pregnancy. It would make sense that there is no need to take as much folic acid once the baby is fully developed?
I do like the idea of taking 1 vitamin a week, just incase I am deficient in something. I am going to stick to a healthy diet and this should be enough.
How much calcium and iron is recommended in pregnancy?
My doctor told me to take folate until 12 weeks and then its ok to stop (neural tubes have developed by then) and that you don't need preg vits if you are eating a healthy diet. I personally have a bottle that I take one of here and there but I too think they are a big marketing scam made to guilt mummies into buying expensive vits they probably don't need.
I've been taking Elevit, with food. Although since I got to the second trimester I don't take it daily, just every two or three days instead. It now has iodine in it which is important too. I eat really well, I think there's nutrients in food that they haven't discovered the properties of yet, but also I need the iron from Elevit anyway. I've been eating loads of calcium inadvertently through the guidelines for avoiding Listeria.
Yes you need a truckload of calcium in pregnancy but even more when breastfeeding. The thing with that though is it could deplete iron, so with your iron you have to make sure you're getting Vitamin C to absorb the iron.
Hey Ngala,
Ok so I'm a massive fan of vitamins:) Plus I'm a naturopath so it's how I make my bread and butter.lol No but seriously the reason why vitamins are beneficial is because they fill in any nutritional gaps that aren't being met as food these days are lacking so many nutrients. So I figure better to be safe then sorry and besides all vitamins working together can only benefit you and bub eg: Energy levels, cardiovascular, heart health....If you aren't gonna take a multi at least folate for baby sooo importantt;) All the best.x
Re the folate - yes I had read the same info that Liz referred to. I asked my OB at 13 weeks and he advised that no it's not necessary to take it beyond the first tri and that I should stop. I took Elevit with the first bub but haven't with this one, and will probably just start taking a normal multi as I'm starting to feel run down.
I kept forgetting to take them... :(
I started taking them before i was pregnant n still take them now while breastfeeding. I found that i didn't get sick as often while on them (elevit n vit d). There must be some deficiency in my diet though i tend to eat healthily. I found it hard some days when preg to eat well coz of nausea n cravings so the vitamins ensure that there's enough i guess. Now while breastfeeding i can't have dairy so i rely on the vitamins for calcium.
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