Edited for privacy
I just take a multi vitamin that has the amount of folic acid my doctor said I needed in in and a separate pill for DHA of the recommended amount. I’d check with your doctor about what is best for you though.
Folic Acid supplements are cheap, you can always just take like half a tab with your multi, depending on the case, obviously check with doctor but really if you get them in bulk prenatal aren’t that expensive. The folic acid is important in preventing spinal cord defects.
all I can say about iron is that I haven’t been able to take a prenatal vitamins with iron for months because it upsets my stomach so I totally pay extra for the gummy prenatal vitamins and them being delicious also encourages me to take them everyday! [name_f]My[/name_f] doc said it’s fine not to take it, but most pill style prenatal vitamins do have it included already.
Because of nursing or being pregnant for so long, I’ve taken a prenatal vitamin for about 10 years straight. It won’t hurt you. Most of the vitamins in it are water-soluble, meaning you will pee out the excess. Only A, D, E and K are fat-soluble and thus will be stored in your body, and of those, only vitamin A is dangerous in excess, which is why you don’t see a ton of A in any multivitamin. Most people don’t get enough D, so that is not a problem. E is an antioxidant and fine, and K is usually present in small amounts, and important for newborn’s clotting anyway.
I like [name_f]Rainbow[/name_f] [name_m]Light[/name_m] brand as they don’t make me sick or constipated. I also take 2 fish oil capsules and 2 vitamin D capsules every day.
Thank you @anaxandra and @moonkai for your comments. I’ve spoken with my doctor about this, but she doesn’t take prenatal vitamins, and while I respect her professional expertise, I kind of like to get additional information from people who have experienced things in practice.
@galatea, thank you for your information. I’ll look into the brand you mentioned.
@tfzolghadr, thank you. I guess I need to find out how much iron is too much? I haven’t had any problems so far. I understand the calcium is necessary during pregnancy, but do I need it if there’s just a small chance that I could become pregnant?