Unlocking the Secrets to a Radiant Pregnancy: Your ultimate guide to essential prenatal nutrition and choosing a quality prenatal Vitamin
Are you currently pregnant (OR trying to conceive), wanting to know the best way to nourish your body for a healthy pregnancy, and…. a little overwhelmed by all the prenatal nutrition advice out there? Go to any drug store, and you’ll see countless options for prenatal vitamin supplements… but are they any good?
And it doesn’t help that on Instagram, Tik Tok, and google, there is conflicting advice on whether or not you even NEED a prenatal vitamin.
WOOF! I’ve been there. There is such a lack of not only solid, evidence-based information out there on prenatal nutrition and prenatal vitamins, but there are SO FEW ACTUALLY-GOOD prenatal vitamins out there. It’s no wonder so many people are out there saying “don’t waste your money on prenatal vitamins!” While I actually agree with this sentiment in MOST cases, there are a few really high-quality prenatal supplements that actually contain everything pregnant women (and women who are trying to conceive) need to conceive and maintain a healthy pregnancy (keep reading and I’ll share my favorites!)
With the right prenatal nutrition in the form of a well-balanced, protein-rich diet, supplemented with prenatal vitamins and other recommended supplements (we’ll get there, I promise!), you can conceive with confidence, nourish your growing baby while nourishing yourself, and even feel GREAT during pregnancy. I know I know - how can this be?
In this blog post I’ll cover:
The basics of prenatal nutrition and eating for a healthy pregnancy
The top mistakes people make when choosing a prenatal supplement
Why quality really matters when it comes to supplementation
What to look for when choosing a prenatal vitamin
A few recommendations for my favorite prenatal supplements
Embarking on the beautiful journey of motherhood requires more than just excitement – it demands informed choices. In a world where holistic well-being is key, let's delve deep into the essential role of prenatal vitamins in ensuring a vibrant preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum experience.
The foundation of pregnancy wellness: a nourishing diet
First and foremost, let's establish the foundation: a prenatal supplement is no substitute for a nourishing, animal-protein-rich diet. If you need guidance on crafting a pregnancy-friendly diet (and all things pregnancy wellness and birth prep) I'm here for you! However, the reality is that our current food system presents challenges, making it challenging to obtain all necessary nutrients solely from food.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know that eating “healthy” is crucial for fertility and pregnancy. In my experience working with TTC and pregnancy clients, I find that few women actually feel equipped to know what their bodies need to thrive during pregnancy. They feel frustrated that they feel so bad in the first trimester that they can barely get a cracker down, much less a vegetable or piece of chicken, and it all starts to feel a little useless to even try to eat “healthy.”
Compound that with the fact that women are advised to avoid SO many foods during pregnancy with little information about the true risks vs benefits of consuming these foods, and my personal opinion is this leads to undernourishment and undereating in many pregnant women, at a time when you and your baby REALLY NEED those nutrients. I won’t go into that too deeply, but I DO recommend Lily Nichols’ Real Food for Pregnancy for a deeper dive into what the research says about nutrients needed during pregnancy.
While the point of this post is NOT to cover the specifics of eating a pregnancy-friendly diet, let’s just talk about a few of the basics:
Protein - protein (ideally primarily from animal sources) is crucial to building a baby and supporting your energy, blood sugar, and overall health throughout preconception and pregnancy. Getting adequate protein prior to and during the first trimester can actually REALLY help to reduce nausea and fatigue. I recommend a minimum of 100 grams of protein per day, but for optimal health for pregnancy (and fertility, if you’re currently TTC), I recommend at least .8-1 gram per pound of body weight.
Fat - if you are like me and grew up in the dietary fat-phobic 90s and early 2000s, this can come as a shock. But you probably need to eat MORE fats (and you’ve probably been led astray as to what is a “healthy” or “unhealthy” fat). Grass-fed butter (like Kerrygold brand), coconut oil, avocado oil, and olive oil are all great to use for cooking, and, of course, eating alllll the avocados and yummy nuts and seeds. Keep in mind, Omega-3 fats are crucial for anti-inflammation as well as baby’s brain development, and it’s important to get these from animal sources like fish and eggs.
Carbs - it’s also time to de-demonize carbs. Carbs are FUEL, and your body needs them. There is definitely some individual consideration in exactly how much you need (particularly if trying to conceive), primarily to do with how well-regulated your blood sugar is. Of course, as with fats, not all carbs are created equal (but I firmly believe over-focusing on that can lead you down a tough road) What’s most important is pairing your carbs with protein and fat, so that you can avoid blood sugar spikes and crashes and keep your blood sugar stable through the day. This SO important to maintain healthy ovulatory cycles, and you guessed it, crucial in pregnancy to avoid complications like Gestational diabetes.
Vitamins and Minerals - again, I’m not here to complicate things. But as you are growing that baby in your belly, certain nutrients are absolutely VITAL not only for your own health but for your baby’s to grow and thrive. This is also important to know if you are trying to conceive - because certain crucial pieces of development happen during those VERY early weeks where you may not even know if you’re pregnant yet.
A few nutrients to focus on from preconception into pregnancy
Disclaimer: this list is NOT comprehensive at all! I recommend Lily Nichols’ book, Real Food For Pregnancy for a deep dive… but keep reading for the supplements I recommend to MORE than cover your bases)
Choline
An important nutrient for baby brain development and for preventing neural tube defects (I know I know, why haven’t we been talking about this?!). Less than 6-10% of women are obtaining the Adequate Intake (AI), and studies are now showing that during pregnancy, the Adequate Intake of 450 mg per day is set too low. The best source of choline? EGGS baby! I ask my fertility and pregnancy clients to get 3 eggs per day to reach the AI for choline - but because studies are showing that more is better (and because of food aversions and nausea in early pregnancy) I also recommend a high quality supplement to bolster this.
Folate
Folate is crucial for the development of the neural tube, which occurs in those early early weeks of pregnancy. So, you guessed it, this is why I really recommend making sure this nutrient is already in abundance in your body prior to conception. Starting with food, you can get lots of this nutrient in foods like liver, leafy greens, and legumes. Because our food is not as full of quality nutrients as it was 100 years ago, I also recommend supplementing with folate, usually with a prenatal vitamin supplement.
But not just any supplement! I will spare you the technical details, but if there’s one thing to know about folate, you want to make sure it is in a bioavailable form - meaning in a form that is easily absorbed and used by your body. If it isn’t, well, you’re just peeing it out :) This is where it really matters to check your labels. Keep reading to learn more about what type of folate is best absorbed by the body.
Since 40-60% of the population have a gene variation that impacts the ability to turn synthetic folates (like folic acid) into a form that can be properly used, it’s SO important to get folates from high quality sources of food and a bioavailable form in a prenatal vitamin.
DHA
DHA is an Omega-3 fat that is also crucial for baby’s brain and eye development. It’s also important for YOUR brain, mama! It is becoming increasingly clear in the research that deficiencies in this form of Omega-3 fat can lead to higher risk of anxiety and depression for YOU - AND - it’s thought to play a big part in the VERY REAL experience of pregnancy/mom brain (and if you’re a mommy with ADHD…bless you, so am I… we need our DHA even more!)
The thing about DHA, and why many of us are deficient in normal times, but particularly during pregnancy and postpartum, is that it’s primarily found in animal sources, so eating lots of walnuts and chia seeds (wonderful though they are) isn’t going to cut it here.
The best food sources of DHA Omega 3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish like salmon (oh, and OYSTERS! yum), grass-fed beef (which has a higher ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fat than conventional beef), and pasture-raised chicken eggs (another shout-out to the wonders of EGGS baby!). Taking a fish oil/Omega 3 supplement with at least 300mg of DHA will help you get yours and baby’s needs met. Read on for how I recommend supplementing (hint: I prefer Omega-3 be supplemented separately from a prenatal vitamin).
Common pitfalls in selecting a prenatal vitamin
Alright! We’ve highlighted some key nutrients needed during pregnancy, but remember, this list is by no means exhaustive. With a little background info, let’s chat about some of the common mistakes when choosing a prenatal supplement.
Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see with my TTC and pregnant clients:
Prenatal vitamin mistake 1: Using a prenatal as a primary source of nutrients for pregnancy.
Remember what we talked about earlier? A prenatal supplement should be just that - a supplement to a nourishing diet that supports healthy conception and pregnancy. However, there are obviously times, particularly in early pregnancy, where nausea and food aversions can make it more difficult to simply get calories in, much less quality ones. That’s why I always recommend working on building a nutrient-dense, animal protein-rich diet several months before you try to conceive (if you are currently TTC or pregnant and didn’t do this, don’t worry, because it’s never too late to start!)
My absolute FAVORITE food to prepare and support the body for pregnancy is pasture-raised eggs, if you hadn’t figured that out yet, but here are some other wonderful sources of nutrients:
Grass-fed beef
Beef LIVER (I know I know, I’m working on developing a taste for it too, but I had to mention it since it’s basically nature’s multivitamin)
Bone Broth
Fatty Fish like Salmon and sardines (I’m also personally working on developing a taste for tinned fish :))
Oysters
Don’t forget your leafy green veggies and legumes, but remember, a primarily plant-based diet will require a lot of work to obtain the essential amounts of all the vital nutrients for pregnancy.
Prenatal vitamin mistake 2: Choosing a “convenient” 2-capsule supplement (Less is NOT more!)
It's not uncommon to be enticed by the marketing ploy of "ONLY TWO Capsules!" But let's unravel the truth. Packing all the vital nutrients, including space-consuming ones like choline (remember, 450 is the minimum!), into a small number of capsules isn’t always possible if you want a prenatal vitamin that has the right amounts of each nutrient to cover your bases. This shortcut may compromise the well-rounded nutrition needed for a thriving pregnancy.
The truth is (and it might be shocking) is that the BEST, highest quality prenatal vitamins on the market (there aren’t many, sadly) often recommend a dose of 6-8 capsules per day. This is because the powdered form of the many nutrients needed for an optimally healthy pregnancy take up space- they are, after all, made of matter just like everything else!
To pack the appropriate amounts of high quality, easily-absorbable, vital nutrients like choline, folate, Vitamin A, K2, and Vitamin D, to name a few, more capsules ARE better in this case.
If you choose a prenatal vitamin that recommends a dose of 8 capsules, I usually recommend starting with a smaller dose, 2-4 capsules, and increasing them daily. I personally take two doses a day of 4 capsules each of my Needed prenatals.
Prenatal vitamin mistake 3: Choosing a prenatal with Folic Acid instead of methylated folate
Remember that we love folate because it is crucial in the early days of pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects. But, as we discussed above, not all folates are created equal, because not all forms of folate can be easily used by the body.
Folic acid is a synthetic, inactive form of folate, requiring methylation, a complex process that essentially converts the folic acid into a form that can actually be used by the body. However, up to 60% of individuals have a genetic variation that impacts the methylation process, which means those individuals cannot convert folic acid into the active, ready-to-use form effectively (you very well might be one of them!). Folate in the form of folic acid is found in a great number of prenatal vitamins, despite a wealth of clear evidence that it is not the optimal choice if we want to protect that neural tube development in early pregnancy.
Getting the active, ready-to-use form ensures optimal neural tube development for your baby. This is why selecting a prenatal vitamin with METHYLATED FOLATE- an active form of folate - is crucial (in addition to getting folate from food sources like leafy greens and lentils!)
Prenatal vitamin mistake number 4: Omega-3 mistakes
I’ll keep this last one quick. When choosing an Omega-3 supplement, I really recommend taking it SEPARATELY - as in, in a separate capsule (you can take them simultaneously) - from your regular prenatal vitamin. I have seen some supplements on the market with VERY trendy marketing that boast a combined Omega-3 and prenatal capsule… but remember how less pills is not more?
Because Omega 3 is an unsaturated fat, it can easily become rancid and oxidized (read: inflammatory) when exposed to air, light, heat, and other chemical compounds. It is best kept separate from other compounds found in prenatal vitamins for this reason, and it’s also why it may need to be stored differently (or make sure to buy a high-quality, shelf-stable version)
This second bit is not necessarily a mistake, but it’s my recommendation - and that is that I recommend choosing an ANIMAL BASED Omega-3 supplement versus a plant-based version. While there are some high quality DHA sources that can be obtained from certain types of algae, it still requires a LOT more to get the recommended amounts.
My tips:
Choose a prenatal vitamin that does NOT combine Omega 3 into the capsule - instead, take Omega 3 separately
Choose an omega 3 supplement with high amounts of DHA - at LEAST 300 mg
Choose an Omega 3 supplement derived from fish oil, rather than an algae-based one
Don’t forget your food sources, that we discussed above - if you can honestly feel confident you’re getting everything you need from food - you may not need to supplement
Prenatal vitamin mistake number 5: Buying any old prenatal off the shelf at CVS or Target
Choosing any prenatal vitamin off the drug store shelf is convenient (and granted, more and more quality brands ARE trying to become more accessible and some do show up in these stores), but more often than not, these prenatal vitamins are not the optimal choice.
The lack of FDA regulation in the supplement industry raises concerns about impurities (including heavy metals- ick!) and inaccurate ingredient content, in addition to the fact that most of these supplements simply do not contain optimal levels of the vital nutrients for healthy conception and pregnancy. It’s best to choose a prenatal vitamin company that invests in third-party testing for quality assurance so you can be sure you are getting exactly what it says is there on the label. Most of the time, these higher-quality vitamins also choose more absorbable forms of different nutrients (eg, magnesium glycinate versus straight magnesium, which is known for causing tummy upset), so you can be sure you aren’t just peeing out everything you’re taking in.
And yes, these higher-quality supplements DO usually come with a higher price tag. I know, I know… EVERYTHING is expensive right now, so opting for a less expensive solution definitely makes sense, and I really and truly understand first hand the expense of pregancy and the first years of baby’s life, and adding in more expensive supplements feels like “one more thing.”
However, I encourage you to think of buying a high-quality prenatal supplement as an investment in not only a healthy pregnancy for you and optimal fetal development in-utero, but your baby’s long-term health (and yours) is a long-term payoff worth investing in.
As a reminder, there are several perinatal supplement companies with very fancy branding and marketing that cost the SAME or MORE than the supplements I most often recommend to my clients, but still don’t fit the bill for certain nutrients - so please know that paying more does not always mean better. So with that said, why don’t we talk about some of my favorites?
My favorite prenatal vitamin and supplement products:
Have you taken a look at what’s on your prenatal vitamin’s supplement facts yet? How does it add up? BTW- there is ABSOLUTELY NO SHAME here - I am writing this blog because this information is not widely available, and you deserve to know the best way to support your body for pregnancy!
If you are happy with your prenatal, that’s wonderful. However, if you want my recs for the best prenatal vitamins out there, you’re in the right place!
My favorite prenatal vitamins to recommend:
NEEDED - I stumbled upon Needed brand a few years ago and it honestly made a huge difference in my own conception and pregnancy journey.
This company has thought of it ALL - a super high-quality prenatal with research to back up every single ingredient (and amounts of each nutrient), an Omega-3 with 1000 g of DHA, and other products that support you through preconception, pregnancy, AND postpartum like collagen powder, sleep support, and a stress support supplement. I cannot recommend this brand enough - they derive all their products from ethical sources and as I said, every minor detail is evidence-based. It is also the only supplement I have found that contains an optimal level of Choline (and we now ALL know why that is so important).
as a licensed healthcare provider, I do not receive commissions from Needed, but I DO have a discount code off your first month’s supply - Use DRJACKIEJOY for 20% off of your order!
I’ll be honest, this is the only other prenatal vitamin I have found that fits the bill for me. check out their Supplement facts and you will see that they have a decent amount of choline- 300 mg- (most prenatals only include 55 mg!) and bioavailable forms of everything from Vitamin A to folate.
Your journey to a beautiful, empowering, and thriving pregnancy is a one. Nourishing your body with food and supplementing where necessary for YOU is a crucial part of this journey, but if you know anything about me, you know I take a holistic approach to fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum. Choosing the right prenatal vitamin for you is a pivotal step, but it’s not all there is. You are undergoing the most amazing physical, emotional, and spiritual transformation you’ve ever experienced, and you deserve to nourish every part of yourself!
Hi, I’m Dr. Jackie Joy!
I help women in their 20s and 30s to embrace intuition and joy on the continuum of preconception to postpartum as they unlock their feminine power to conceive, grow, birth, and nurture a baby.
If you’re looking for more support on your fertility or pregnancy journey - whether that’s to understand your own body’s nutrition needs, how to exercise during and post-pregnancy, or preparing and recovering from birth, I’m your girl! Please feel free to fill out a contact form or set up a 15 minute call, and we’ll figure out together what the next steps are for you.
