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Breastfeeding women may be advised to continue taking their prenatal vitamins. Image Credit: IT Stock Free/Polka Dot/Getty Images Prenatal vitamins are often recommended for use before, during and even after a pregnancy. Once your pregnancy is over, you may continue to benefit from your prenatal if you are breastfeeding. Without continual input from your doctor, you may be confused about when you can switch back to a standard multivitamin. Before you stop your prenatal, there are a few things to consider.
Prenatals During PregnancyIf you are pregnant, chances are you are already taking a prenatal vitamin every day. This is important: prenatal vitamins contain more vitamins and minerals than the average multivitamin, even one that is designed specifically for women's needs. While the first trimester of pregnancy is often stressed as an important time for prenatal vitamins to get the baby off to a healthy start, prenatals are important for the duration of your pregnancy. As your baby continues to grow and develop, he will need those extra nutrients. If prenatals are making you ill, try taking them with a snack or later in the day, but continue taking them unless told otherwise by your doctor. Prenatals After PregnancyAfter you've had the baby is not necessarily the time to stop the prenatals. If you are breastfeeding, you may wish to keep them in your daily routine. Breastfeeding moms are no longer growing a baby inside them, but they still are growing a baby outside of them: breast milk is all the nutrition babies need. The contents of a woman's breast milk depend on the nutrients she eats. The Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington recommends continuing your prenatal vitamin to ensure you get enough of many essential nutrients, such as folic acid, calcium and iron. Even if you are not breastfeeding, continuing prenatals will help you build up iron stores that were depleted during delivery. You can opt to change to a multivitamin at this stage; however, you should first check with your doctor to make sure a multivitamin is sufficient for your needs and those of your newborn, or if you should continue with your prenatal. Prenatals After BreastfeedingOnce your baby has been born and you are either not breastfeeding or you have stopped breastfeeding, it is ok to stop taking your prenatal. Some women choose to continue simply for nutritional needs; however, Columbia Health states that if you are not pregnant or planning a pregnancy, a prenatal vitamin may actually provide you with too much extra nutrition. Nonpregnant women need only about two-thirds the iron a pregnant woman needs. Women who take extra iron every day run the risk of developing iron toxicity over time, as the mineral is stored in the body. If not used, it can cause symptoms of digestive upset and even death. Planning the Next One?Women who are trying to become pregnant should start taking a prenatal vitamin a few months beforehand to prepare the body for pregnancy. If you chose to breastfeed your baby and are ready to start trying for the next one, your doctor may advise you not to stop taking your prenatal vitamin at all. Or, you may have only a few months of downtime between pregnancies. Whatever the case, involve your doctor whenever you are considering changing from one supplement to another, especially when it involves prenatal vitamins. Enter prenatal vitamins. They’re an easy way to fill in any gaps and support both your body and your baby’s growth and development. Here’s what pregnant women need to know about them. Why is it important to take prenatal vitamins?Pregnant women have increased nutritional demands, both because of the needs of the baby developing inside and the changes that their body is going through to accommodate the pregnancy. While most women get sufficient nutrition through a well-balanced diet, it’s helpful to take a multivitamin to make sure that all the nutritional requirements of the pregnancy are met. What are the benefits of taking a prenatal vitamin?For certain vitamins and supplements, there are specific benefits. For example, folic acid supplementation helps to prevent certain birth defects (like spina bifida) in babies. Taking iron helps to prevent anemia (low blood count), which may lead to fatigue and fainting. Taking DHA (a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid) may improve fetal neural development and fetal growth when taken in the third trimester. Extra calcium is good for bones, and vitamin B6 may be useful for suppressing nausea in pregnancy. Which key nutrients should women look for in a prenatal?Although prenatal vitamins typically contain the full range of vitamins and minerals, the ones that are most important are folic acid, B vitamins, calcium and iron. Calcium and iron are particularly important because the requirements for these minerals are higher in pregnancy than they are for non-pregnant women. However, these are the ingredients most often left out of gummy vitamins, which many women like because of taste and ease of use. So if they choose the gummy, they may need to take extra iron or calcium if these have been left out. When to start and stop taking prenatal vitaminsYou should start using a multivitamin that contains folic acid whenever you think you might conceive. Because the kind of birth defects that arise from a lack of folic acid start to form before many women even realize they are pregnant, it’s important to supplement this nutrient even before conception. Other nutrient demands increase only after pregnancy starts, so it doesn’t have to be a “prenatal vitamin” until after the pregnancy test is positive. If you’re unable to tolerate the vitamin because you feel sick in the first trimester, it’s OK to start once you’re feeling better. You should continue to take a prenatal vitamin for the duration of breastfeeding, however long that may be. This is because lactation (making breast milk) also increases nutritional demands, especially of calcium and iron. Do prenatal vitamins have any side effects?The ingredient that’s most likely to cause gastrointestinal side effects is iron, which may cause indigestion and constipation. There are different iron preparations available, so women who experience these effects with one vitamin may want to try a different vitamin that has a slower-release form of iron. Other vitamins don’t necessarily have side effects, but may be harmful if too much is ingested. Too much vitamin A can have harmful effects on the fetus, but is fine when taken as beta-carotene, a plant-based precursor that’s safe. Too much iodine and fat-soluble vitamins (D, E and K) may also be harmful. Finally, prenatal vitamins that pack in all these nutrients may be big—some women find them hard to swallow and they may cause gagging. Using a chewable alternative may be an option. This advice applies to most low-risk women and pregnancies. There are certain cases (women who have had gastric bypass surgery, women with eating disorders or women carrying twins and triplets), where the nutritional needs are different. These women should contact their prenatal care providers about the best regimen of nutritional supplement to use. Jonathan
Schaffir is an ob/gyn at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and a professor at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Can your baby still be healthy without prenatal vitamins?Even if you eat a super healthy diet, you still need prenatal vitamins. It takes a lot of vitamins and minerals to grow a baby! Prenatal vitamins give you extra amounts of these three key nutrients for pregnant women: Folic acid helps your baby's brain and spinal cord develop correctly.
What happens if you don't take prenatal vitamins while pregnant?If you're not taking prenatal vitamins, neural tube defects can appear: Anencephaly: This occurs when the baby's skull and brain doesn't form correctly. Babies that are born with anencephaly don't survive. Spina bifida: This occurs when the spine does not form correctly and the baby may have physical disabilities.
When can I stop taking prenatal vitamins when pregnant?Folic acid before and during pregnancy
It's important to take a 400 micrograms folic acid tablet every day before you're pregnant and until you're 12 weeks pregnant. Folic acid can help prevent birth defects known as neural tube defects, including spina bifida.
Do you have to take prenatal vitamins the whole 9 months?Now that you're pregnant, do you have to take prenatal vitamins the whole nine months? Because your baby continues to grow and develop throughout the entire nine months in utero, it's important to continue to take a prenatal multivitamin during your entire pregnancy.
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What happens if you stop taking prenatal vitamins while pregnant
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