We all know that prenatals contain essential nutrients necessary for a healthy pregnancy, but which prenatal vitamin ingredients are the most important?
Your body goes through immense physiological and anatomical changes during pregnancy to accommodate and nurture the little one growing inside of you.
These changes bring about a higher need for nutrients compared to the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) that’s been established for non-pregnant people.
That said, prenatal supplements are specifically-formulated for the increased nutritional needs of mommy and baby.
They can help prevent against severe complications, reduce risks for birth defects, and lower chances of future diseases and illnesses.
So what exactly are in these supplements that makes them so worthwhile?
If you start looking at ingredients in different prenatal vitamins, it can get a bit overwhelming as to what exactly you should be taking.
Ideally, you want those that actually have some scientific proof to be beneficial to you and baby.
With science on your side, the necessary ingredients become much simpler to identify.
This guide explains the ideal vitamin and mineral amounts during pregnancy for women anywhere from 19 to 50 years of age.
Keep in mind, no single prenatal supplement will hit every mark perfectly (despite what the manufacturers tell you!)
However, it’s easy to identify what you might be lacking in your diet and which nutrients you need extra help with.
A quick explanation of some terms before we get started…
- Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) – Amount of a nutrient needed to sustain proper health according to the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council. We’ve included the recommendations for pregnant women below.
- Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL) – Highest amount individuals can take without experiencing potentially adverse side effects.
- International Units (IU) – A unit of measurement for vitamins and minerals
- Milligrams (Mg) – In the metric system, 1,000 milligrams = 1 gram
- Micrograms (Mcg) – In the metric system, 1,000 micrograms = 1 milligram
One Thing To Always Keep In Mind
Before we get to the actual prenatal vitamin ingredients that you should be getting on a daily basis, remember that the following should serve as a general guideline.
Everyone is different and has different needs.
So be sure to talk to your doctor or healthcare practitioner before taking any supplement or making any changes to your diet.
With that said, here are the current recommendations for pregnant women that we found that are backed by scientific studies…
Vitamin A
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 770 mcg
Upper Limit (UL): 3,000 mcg
Vitamin A aids in regulating gene expression, cell differentiation, and development.
It’s crucial for the growth of embryonic and fetal developments such as the eyes, arms, legs, and ears.
This vitamin is pivotal for the development of the heart, circulatory and central nervous systems.
Vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy could lead to complex congenital heart malformations and abnormalities in the lungs and urinary tract.
Many supplements today use a form of Vitamin A called Beta Carotene, as opposed to Retinol or Retinoic Acid, because potential adverse effects may be caused by excessive intakes of the latter 2 forms.
Vitamin C
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 85 mg
Upper Limit: 2,000 mg
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that’s crucial for making collagen for mom and baby.
Collagen is a structural protein that makes up skin, bones, teeth, muscles, cartilage, and blood vessels.
This vitamin is also known as ascorbic acid and plays a vital role in healing wounds, repairing tissue, bone development and repair, and healthy skin.
It aids in fighting off harmful infections and its antioxidant properties protect from cellular damage.
Vitamin C also supports iron absorption, another crucial mineral necessary for a healthy pregnancy.
Some studies suggest that vitamin C may help prevent against preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and also lower harmful lead levels in the blood.
Some early signs of a deficiency in vitamin C are dry skin, inflamed gums, brittle hair, slow-healing cuts, and bruising.
Choline
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 450 mg
Upper Limit: 3,500 mg
The body is able to make a small amount of choline on its own but additional sources of choline are needed from your diet in order to maintain proper health.
Choline is fundamental during pregnancy and the demand increases as the mother transports high quantities of choline through the placenta to the fetus.
This is also true during lactation, which places an additional need on choline from maternal stores.
Proper placental function, neural tube and brain development, and liver functions of the fetus are dependent on the presence of choline.
This organic compound plays a large role in cell specialization, regulating gene function, and the creation of organs.
With the average 20 – 39 year old woman only getting about 280 mg of choline daily, experts are worried that pregnant women are not getting adequate amounts of choline to support optimal intellectual development and fetal brain growth.
Unfortunately, choline is often severely under dosed in prenatal supplements or completely absent altogether.
This has been an area of much debate and finally choline is being more heavily focused on.
Expectant mothers are encouraged to eat foods high in choline such as eggs and meat (beef, turkey, salmon, ham, and pork).
Folate (Vitamin B9)
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 600 mcg, (400 mcg from folic acid and 200 mcg from folate-rich foods)
Upper Limit: 1,000 mcg
Before we get to what folate does and why you should take it, let’s briefly go over the 2 different “forms” of this vitamin… folate and folic acid.
Folic acid and folate are often deemed to be the same thing.
However, folic acid is actually a synthetic version of folate that’s added to supplements and fortified foods.
The bioavailability of folate and folic acid are substantially different.
When taken on an empty stomach, folic acid is nearly 100% bioavailable and about 85% bioavailable when taken with food or if it’s supplemented in a food.
Folate naturally found in food is about 50% bioavailable.
Folate may be superior to folic acid because it’s more natural and less likely to lead to side effects in mom.
However, folic acid may work better at preventing NTDs.
The most important thing is that a prenatal has at least ONE version, so a quality prenatal should have either folate or folic acid.
In addition, you want to make sure you’re taking the right amounts of each to make them effective.
Around 600mcg – 1000mcg of folate or 400mcg -800 mcg of folic acid.
Now let’s get to WHY you should take one or both of these…
Special importance is placed on folate in terms of preconception and pregnancy.
It’s necessary for DNA replication, amino acid metabolism, and gene expression and during critical stages of embryonic and fetal development where rapid cell division is taking place.
About 3-4 weeks after conception, folate plays a crucial role in closing the neural tube.
The neural tube is the precursor to what will eventually become the baby’s brain and spinal cord.
A lack of folate can lead to devastating congenital malformations, neural tube defects (NTDs), reduced fetal growth, and anemia in the mother.
NTDs include spina bifida (failure of neural tube closure that collects with spinal fluid and leads to paralysis), anencephaly (absence of spinal cord or brain), and encephalocele (where the brain protrudes from the skull).
This major development occurs around 21 to 27 days after the baby is conceived, a time frame where most women aren’t aware that they’re pregnant yet.
This is why taking a prenatal vitamin, or at least a folic acid supplement, before conception is suggested to all women capable of pregnancy.
NTDs are some of the most frequently occurring congenital abnormalities, however they’re also one of the most preventable.
Women supplementing with 400 – 800 mcg of folic acid and eating foods rich in folate drastically reduce the chances of NTDs.
In 1998, the FDA required that all enriched grain products in the United States must be fortified with 140 mcg of folic acid.
Since this law passed, there has been a 28% reduction in NTDs per year.
Vitamin D
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 15 mcg (600 UI)
Upper Limit: 100 mcg (4,000 IU)
Vitamin D is needed for fetal development, the formation of enamel and teeth, the addition of calcium to bones, and healthy immune function.
Inadequate amounts of vitamin D are prevalent among pregnancies.
Deficiency in this vitamin greatly compromises the vitamin d levels in the fetus.
The lack of vitamin d is associated with low birth weight, hypocalcaemia, poorly calcified bones, and higher risk of cavities in the future.
A deficiency in the mom is linked to preeclampsia, miscarriage, preterm labor, infection, asthma and type 1 diabetes in children.
Experts suggest that if a mother is vitamin d deficient, a RDA of 50 mcg or 2000-4000 IU daily may be required to get the mother back to a normal, healthy range.
Supplementing with vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) is usually recommended because it increases serum levels of vitamin d better than vitamin D2 (Ergocalciferol).
Calcium
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 1,000 mg
Upper Limit: 2,500 mg
Calcium is necessary to support fetal bone and tooth development.
It also protects the mother from calcium loss, since calcium is taken from the mother’s own bones and transferred to the fetus.
Calcium is suggested to help aid in proper functioning of the nervous, muscular, and circulatory systems in the baby.
Iron
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 27 mg (1st trimester) – 30 mg (2nd & 3rd trimesters)
Upper Limit: 45 mg
The need for iron greatly increases during pregnancy.
Throughout the pregnancy, maternal blood volume increases some 40%-50%.
This mineral helps support healthy placental and fetal growth and development.
It’s also necessary for the high demand of red blood cells that are tasked with transporting oxygen.
During the 2nd and 3rd trimester, the mother has a natural increase in iron absorption to help fulfill the additional need of iron.
This is why it’s suggested to increase iron intake to 30 mg during the last 2 trimesters.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that iron-deficiency anemia in pregnant women in the 1st and 2nd trimesters have a 2x greater risk of preterm delivery and a 3x greater risk for having a baby with low-birth weight.
The CDC also says research evidence shows that supplementing with iron during pregnancy decreases the risk of iron-deficiency anemia.
Iodine
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 220 mcg
Upper Limit: 1,100 mcg
During pregnancy, a woman’s iodine requirements substantially increase to make certain the fetus is getting an adequate amount.
Iodine is necessary for both mom and baby.
This mineral aids in the maternal production of the thyroid hormone, which is crucial for the healthy development of the central nervous system (CNS), including the fetal brain and spinal cord.
An expecting mother’s daily need for iodine increases from 150 mcg to 220 mcg.
Unfortunately, most foods have a relatively low iodine amount.
This is where supplementation comes into play.
Iodine is so important to health that the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) advocate universal salt iodization in order to ensure that everyone meets their daily recommended amount of iodine.
Zinc
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 11 mg
Upper Limit: 40 mg
Babies require zinc for proper cell division, tissue growth, and for the functioning and production of DNA.
It also plays a part in healthy brain development and function.
Zinc can boost the health of mom-to-be with immune system support and cell repair and wound healing.
Thiamin (Vitamin B1)
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 1.4 mg
Upper Limit: No UL established
Thiamin, also known as thiamine or vitamin B1, is vital for cell development, glucose oxidation, and production of insulin.
It aids in the healthy growth and function of the baby’s brain, heart, and muscles.
It’s also suggested as a potential prevention and treatment method of gestational diabetes due to the fact it helps intrauterine growth and tolerance of glucose, which leads to a healthy birth weight.
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 1.4 mg
Upper Limit: No UL established
Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is a water-soluble vitamin.
What that means is your body doesn’t have a way of storing it, so it’s important that you get an adequate amount daily.
The benefits of this vitamin for the baby are proper growth, healthy skin, and good vision.
It’s also necessary for nerve, bone, and muscle development.
For mom, riboflavin plays a major role in energy production and metabolizing fats and drugs.
Niacin (Vitamin B3)
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 18 mg
Upper Limit: 35 mg
Niacin is among the vitamin b complex and is also called vitamin B3 or nicotinic acid.
Niacin is needed for cell differentiation, cell signaling, and to help turn food into energy.
This vitamin promotes healthy skin, proper digestion, and nerve function.
It’s also been shown to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides and increase HDL (good) cholesterol.
Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6)
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 1.9 mg
Upper Limit: 100 mg
Another member of the vitamin b complex is Pyridoxine or vitamin B6.
This vitamin is beneficial for proper red blood cell and niacin formation, nervous system function, steroid hormone function, and synthesis of nucleic acid.
Studies also show that vitamin b6 helps reduce nausea and vomiting due to morning sickness.
The doses shown to be effective in alleviating morning sickness were 25 mg of pyridoxine every 8 hours for 3 days and 10 mg of pyridoxine every 8 hours for 5 days.
Vitamin B12
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 2.6 mcg
Upper Limit: No UL established
Vitamin B12 aids in regulating gene expression, DNA synthesis, growth of organs, and cell differentiation throughout crucial embryonic and fetal development.
This vitamin may potentially inhibit neural tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly.
Vitamin E
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 15 mg (22.5 IU)
Upper Limit: 1,000 mg (1,500 IU)
This fat-soluble nutrient has antioxidant properties that protect cells from harmful damage due to free radicals.
Free radicals form when we convert food into energy, however they are also present in the environment such as air pollution, cigarette smoke, and UV sunlight.
Vitamin E aids in healthy immune function by protecting against harmful viruses and bacteria.
This vitamin may also help prevent blood clots from forming by widening blood vessels.
Biotin (Vitamin B7)
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 30 mcg
Upper Limit: No UL established
This water-soluble vitamin is also known as vitamin B7 and formerly referred to as vitamin H.
Biotin plays a role in healthy fetal development since it’s essential in regulating gene expression.
It also supports immune function and aids in metabolizing amino acids, glucose, and fatty acids.
Vitamin K (1 and 2)
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 90 mcg
Upper Limit: No UL established
Vitamin K is essential for healthy blood clotting.
It may also be associated with the formation of the baby’s skeletal, cranial, and tooth formation.
Vitamin K is not easily transferred to the baby during pregnancy.
This causes all infants to have low vitamin k levels at birth.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants receive the vitamin K shot to help prevent against severe intestinal or brain hemorrhaging.
The shot helps safeguard the baby until they’re about 6 months old and can eat solid foods that naturally contain vitamin K.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 650 mg
Upper Limit: No UL established
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for mom and baby during pregnancy and fetal development.
Docosahexaenoic Acid or DHA is one of the most biologically active forms and is recommended during pregnancy.
Omega-3 fatty acids are fundamentally essential and provide the building blocks for the baby’s retinas and brain.
This means it’s directly involved with brain health and intelligence.
It also helps determine the total length of pregnancy.
These fatty acids safeguard mommy from perinatal depression.
The RDA for omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy is 650 mg, with 300 mg being from DHA.
What About Magnesium and Selenium?
If you’e already pregnant and get enough of these from your diet, then you may not need to supplement these two.
However, if you’re TRYING to get pregnant, these are two you’ll probably want to take, especially if you have any deficiency.
Why is that? Because there’s been some scientific research that shows they may help with infertility.
Like always, you should talk to your doctor to see if you need more of these than you get in your regular diet.
In Conclusion…
Getting an adequate amount of vitamins and minerals during pregnancy is pivotal for the health of mom and baby.
Prenatal vitamins help fulfill this increased need of nutrients.
When choosing the right prenatal vitamin, be sure to look at this ingredient guide to ensure you’re getting the recommended daily amounts.
If you need help picking the perfect product, check out our comprehensive list of the 10 best prenatal vitamins.
