Is it really important to take a prenatal?

[Chakra]

I did not take one with my other two pregnancies. I will not take synthetic vitamins and the wholefoods ones are too expensive for my family. I was taking the concentrace multi but it was too much every month.

So I was wondering if its really that important to take them? Sometimes I feel like its a marketing scam to get the vitamin companies millions of dollars bcus they say pregnant woman must take them. But I wonder....

Does anyone else not take them? I do take fish oil, coconut oil and bee pollen along with a healthy mostly tf diet with lots of raw organic veggies.

[Taedareth]

I don't know the answer to your question. But every time this subject comes up, people seem to agree that folic acid supplementation is CRITICAL prior to conception (if at all possible) and definitely during the first trimester. You can get folic acid tablets super cheap at any health food store. Less than $5 for a bottle that'll last your first trimester.

Clearly you're getting some great nutrients from the food you eat. But there's always the question of whether we can truly get all the nutrients we need from food due to soil depletion... Some mamas on this forum have posted very intelligent discussions about that.

Anyway, I just wanted to suggest that if you're still interested in taking a synthetic-free, whole foods vitamin that is more affordable, I found some at Super Supplements just recently. A bottle will last 2 months and it cost $37. SS was having a sale this month and maybe it's franchise-wide. The brand was Real Food Organics by Country Life, I think. I got the one for women, although it didn't specifically say "prenatal." HTH

[RootBeerFloat]

Originally Posted by Chakra

I will not take synthetic vitamins and the wholefoods ones are too expensive for my family.

This is me, right here. I have not taken a prenatal vitamin during this pregnancy, except during the last month, when I began suffering from depression pretty severely. The New Chapter Organics prental was on sale at Whole Foods; I didn't take the whole dose so I could stretch the bottle out for a while. Now that it's gone, I don't think that I'll be replacing it.

I can't say for sure what the answer is to your question. I was reading in a book by Joel Furhman (Eat to Live or Disease Proof Your Child, I can't remember which), that he feels like it's ridiculous to give all babies a vitamin k shot at birth, when what docs really should be doing is encouraging mothers to eat a diet rich in vitamin K during pregnancy. That really makes alot of sense to me. So instead of taking a prenatal vitamin, I try hard to make sure that my diet is well balanced and includes plenty of fruits and veggies every day. I also eat/take superfoods, like arceola powder (vitamin C), nutritional yeast (B vitamins), blackstrap molasses (minerals), CLO, ConcenTrace, etc.

The only supplementation that I've used consistently during this pregnancy (beyond that named above) is a calcium/magnesium supplement (because we are dairy free and I just can't get enough bone broth into me to make up for it) and a kelp tablet to help with iodine because I tend to have low thyroid activity.

[MRJmama]

I didn't take them with my second pregnancy because I couldn't keep anything down and they just made it worse. My midwife didn't seem to have a problem with it because the things I was eating were healthy.

[honeysesame]

i didn't take much of them with the second pregnancy b/c my midwife told me if i drank enough of the herbs i was drinking and ate appropriately i didn't need to. i tried to do a small amt of research to verify that and felt satisfied enough to do it. i felt really healthy in pregnancy and after esp. when i was taking my herbs. i will say that afterward (dd is 5 months now) i still feel pretty healthy but notice some things (dry flaky skin around eyebrows on me and dd, cradle cap) that i wonder if are related to a lack of b vitamins perhaps? so even tho i was eating meat i wonder if i should have eaten more liver consistently. and definitely felt i wished i had eaten more of the placenta before tincturing it. like i think i should have eaten most of it. i'm still so bummed about that! oh well. anyhow, the tea is a recipe from rosemary gladstar w/ 2 parts nettles, 3 rasp leaf, 1 alfalfa, 3 lemon balm, 4 peppermint (possibly could use less?), 2 partridge berry leaf (formerly known as squaw vine). infuse 4-6 tsp in a quart of boiling water for 20 minutes or so and drink that all day. i experimented w/ doing vitamins a bit postpartum but it didn't seem to make a difference w/ the skin thing i think. still working on that. anyhow, congrats and good luck!

[Gale Force]

I agree on the food philosophy but I have started taking a liquid multi and do have a lot more energy. If I were pregnant, I would continue that supplement. It is expensive and if I got tapped out, I would probably buy a cheaper product. The synthetic vitamins are absorbed and can be effective. There are some more controversial than others (vitamin D), but for those I know a little more about (Bs, some minerals), I would take what I could afford.

Amanda

[moneca]

I'm not a fan of synthetics, but think it is important to consider more than diet. You can eat a wonderful nutrient dense diet including several superfoods, but that does not mean that you will digest these foods well or absorb the nutrients. The state of the gut should be considered. Accumulation of toxins in the body (they're everywhere in the environment aren't they?) can also block nutrients from being absorbed.
We're hoping to ttc this summer. I don't plan to take a multi or prenatal. I've eaten TF including EVCO, CLO, liver caps, pollen, and AMLA for several years. If I had questions about my ability to absorb the nutrients, despite my nutrient dense diet, I wouldn't hesitate to take a whole foods supplement becuase I wouldn't want nutrient deficiencies to impair a babes development. If I notice signs of nutrient depletion during the pregnancy I will also look to supplement. I should also add that I haven't nursed in 3 years. Not having sufficient time between children or extended nursing would make me consider a supplement.