Eating a balanced diet is the best way to ensure you and baby get the nutrition you need. But sometimes diets fall short. Supplements can boost nutritional intake, but be sure to check with your obstetrician before taking them.
What Is It?
- Folic acid
How Much?
- Between 400–800 mcg daily
Why Take It?
- Helps prevent birth defects like spina bifida and brain malformation
- Aids in development of the fetal neural tube, which later becomes the brain and spinal cord
- Helpful in preventing cleft palate, premature birth, low birth-weight, preeclampsia, and miscarriage
- Reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, and some cancers in moms
Too Much?
- Can mask signs of vitamin B12 deficiency
What Is It?
- Calcium
How Much?
- 1000 mg daily
Why Take It?
- Important in building strong bones and teeth
- Helpful in preventing preeclampsia
- If calcium is lacking in the body, the fetus takes this mineral from the mother’s bones, later leading to maternal osteoporosis
Too Much?
- Large amounts can affect kidney function
What Is It?
- Iron
How Much?
- 30 mg daily, with orange juice to help absorption
Why Take It?
- Helps prevent anemia
- Needed to develop muscles for both baby and mother
- Works to prevent low birth-weight and early delivery
Too Much?
- Constipation and stomach upset
What Is It?
- Omega-3 fatty acid
How Much?
- 250 mg DHA daily, or two 6-oz. servings of low-mercury fish per week
Why Take It?
- Helps to balance prostaglandins, hormone-like substances that aid in fetal brain and eye development
- May decrease the risk of postpartum depression
Too Much?
- Stomach upset and diarrhea; very high doses can increase bleeding risk.
Sources: webmd.com/baby; March of Dimes; Baby Center; American Pregnancy