Vitamins before conception

OK so obviously we are not telling anybody this in real life, but this is largely anonymous so I can say that we are planning to stop birth control either [name_f]May[/name_f] or [name_u]June[/name_u], which is scary and exciting at the same time. So I went to the chemist a few days ago to get some folic acid and vitamin D, since I heard that those are the ones that are really important, vitamin D especially for us in northern climes. I’m not particularly interested in the whole shebang multivitamin ones, since I eat a fairly healthy diet and think it’s probably a bit overkill.

Buuut I accidentally got vitamin D fish oil capsules, which also contain vitamin A, and then I read that in pregnancy you should be careful about too much A, so no supplementary retinol. Is it safe for me to keep taking those through [name_f]April[/name_f] and switch to a different vitamin D supplement on stopping birth control, or could that mean that I would have dangerous levels of vitamin A already in my system at that point? I assume they’re fine for normal everyday non-pregnant life, I just want to make sure I’m not vitamin D deficient after the long winter and cod liver oil is the usual thing people take for that here. Seems I should have done better research though! Perhaps an internet forum isn’t the best place to turn but I wondered if you guys would know from your own experiences.

The ingredients are:

Vitamin A (from [name_m]Fish[/name_m] Liver Oil), 600 IU, 12% of RDA (if my calculations are correct, 180 mcg)
Vitamin D-3 (as Natural Cholecalciferol from [name_m]Fish[/name_m] Liver Oil), 400 IU, 100% of RDA (10 mcg)

and also tablets which are:

Folic acid, 400 mcg, 100% of RDA

It seems like a small amount, so you think this should be OK for whilst I’m still on birth control? Or should I switch asap to a different source of vitamin D?

[name_m]Hi[/name_m] jackal-- congratulations and good luck.

Your purchased vitamins are completely safe. The original data (good-quality data, btw) showed that there was an increased risk of birth defects in women who consumed more than 10,000 IUs of [name_m]Vit[/name_m] A daily in the first seven weeks of their pregnancy. That’s it. 600 IU is far, far below the threshold and is rather like eating a big serving of carrots.

Please do take fish oils! In addition to being great for your cardiovascular health, reducing systemic inflammation, elevating your mood, and decreasing the risk that you will develop gestational diabetes, fish oils contain DHA which is essential for embryonic brain development. In the US now we are starting to routinely prescribe fish oils with prenatal vitamins.

Oh, OK, great! Thanks very much :slight_smile: