regular vs. prenatal vitamins

[Kim R.]

In terms of TCC, what's the real difference? I'm currently taking Women's 1
a Day and a vitamin C. Should I switch to prenatal? When I looked at the
labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same thing. Also, my multi
gives me 100% of folic acid, so do I still need to take an additional
supplement?

Thanks,
Kim R.

[KR]

I took Centrum until I found out I was pregnant, then switched to a
pre-natal vitamin. There is 1 microgram of folic acid in the prenatal as
opposed to the 0.4 in regular. It is a personal choice really, if you have
a great diet and are taking the Women's vitamin I don't see a problem!



"Kim R." > wrote in message
t...
> In terms of TCC, what's the real difference? I'm currently taking Women's
1
> a Day and a vitamin C. Should I switch to prenatal? When I looked at the
> labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same thing. Also, my multi
> gives me 100% of folic acid, so do I still need to take an additional
> supplement?
>
> Thanks,
> Kim R.
>
>

[Me]

regular multivitamins can have too much Vitamin A in, which isn't good
for baby.

Check the labels to see the amounts of Vitamin A

Julia

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 10:45:56 GMT, "Kim R." > wrote:

>In terms of TCC, what's the real difference? I'm currently taking Women's 1
>a Day and a vitamin C. Should I switch to prenatal? When I looked at the
>labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same thing. Also, my multi
>gives me 100% of folic acid, so do I still need to take an additional
>supplement?
>
>Thanks,
>Kim R.
>

[Coccinella]

My Ob/Gyn gave me OneADay essentials and 0.8 mg of folic acid (I cannot
stand the iron in pre-natal).

Love

Nicky

[jjmoreta]

Kim R. wrote:
> In terms of TCC, what's the real difference? I'm currently taking
> Women's 1 a Day and a vitamin C. Should I switch to prenatal? When
> I looked at the labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same
> thing. Also, my multi gives me 100% of folic acid, so do I still
> need to take an additional supplement?
>
> Thanks,
> Kim R.

In terms of TTC, I would be taking a vitamin that has 100% for PREGNANT
women. When a woman becomes pregnant, the need for some nutrients goes up.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist what you should be taking. I personally would
take prenatals because not only will you be able to build up your body
stores of some vitamins, you'll have the proper nutrition for pregnancy from
day 1 (conception).

I know Wal-Mart has generic prenatal vitamins so I'm sure other places do
too. If you're TTC, you can get a prescription from your doctor for some as
well (prescription prenatals with stool softeners also help make the extra
iron easier on your system).

- Joanne
#1 - 36w6d

[Irene]

"Kim R." > wrote in message >...
> In terms of TCC, what's the real difference? I'm currently taking Women's 1
> a Day and a vitamin C. Should I switch to prenatal? When I looked at the
> labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same thing. Also, my multi
> gives me 100% of folic acid, so do I still need to take an additional
> supplement?
>
> Thanks,
> Kim R.

I think the biggest thing to watch is the Vitamin A content, simply
because you don't want to have too much Vit. A once you are actually
pg. (I forget the exact reasons - someone else can probably help on
that. Though I do remember that it's mainly a problem with
supplemental vitamins, not with eating too many green and orange
vegetables, because of the way they are synthesized.)

Well, also checking the folic acid between the two, since you want
extra folic acid now. You may want to check the mg, not just the
percentages, since I'm not sure if they change the requirements and
therefore what constitutes 100% of the RDA.

HTH

Irene

Irene

[Sophie]

"Kim R." > wrote in message
t...
> In terms of TCC, what's the real difference? I'm currently taking Women's
1
> a Day and a vitamin C. Should I switch to prenatal? When I looked at the
> labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same thing. Also, my multi
> gives me 100% of folic acid, so do I still need to take an additional
> supplement?
>
> Thanks,
> Kim R.
>
>

I've always been told if you're TTC start taking a pre-natal vitamin. Even
store brand ones are fine. That's what I've always done (and am doing now).

--
Sophie -
TTC #4

[Vicki S]

"Kim R." > wrote:
> ... I'm currently taking Women's 1 a Day and a vitamin C.
> Should I switch to prenatal? When I looked at the
> labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same thing.

I suggest you do a little research and see how much folic acid (might
well be more than %100 of the RDA) and vitamin A are recommended for a
woman who is TTC or pregnant, then just shop around for a good deal on
vitamins. Some vitamins labeled "prenatal" are junky and some vitamins
that aren't are higher quality. It is what the vitamin actually HAS in
it, not the name, that matters. Obviously. :-) As you say, you
checked labels and they looked pretty much the same.

Re research:
from: http://www.sbaa.org/html/sbaa_folic.html
"Folic acid recommendation
SBAA (Spina Bifida Association of America) advises the 60 million
women of childbearing age not to depend on food alone for folic acid.
SBAA urges women to follow the 1992 U.S. Public Health Service folic
acid recommendations:

* Women who could become pregnant should take 400 micrograms (mcg)
of folic acid through a vitamin. (This amount is also written as 0.4
milligrams (mg).)

* Women at increased risk for spina bifida should take 4000
micrograms (mcg) of folic acid by prescription for 1 to 3 months
before becoming pregnant. (This amount is also written as 4.0
milligrams (mg).)"

and from:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/hstories/hr041201.htm
"Vitamin A appears to pose this danger when women take more than
10,000 international units per day. To put this in perspective, many
multivitamins contain 5 - 10,000 international units of Vitamin A per
pill, so taking as few as two multivitamins a day might be dangerous,
and some supplements of Vitamin A alone contain as much as 25,000
international units per pill.


It's important to note however, that not all types of Vitamin A
appeared dangerous in the study. Much of the Vitamin A we consume in
food and pills is in the form of beta carotene, and other nutrients
that the body converts into Vitamin A. Ken Rothman says his evidence
suggests a problem only with Vitamin A itself.

Ken Rothman: Supplements that contain high levels of beta carotene
should not pose a problem with respect to birth defects, nor should
high levels of beta carotene in the diet.

David Baron: The researchers do caution that foods such as liver
containing extremely high levels of Vitamin A might pose a risk of
birth defects, though their study provides no direct evidence of
that."

Personally, my multivitamin gives me 6,000 IU of VitA a day, 2,500 IU of
it as beta carotene. I checked with my family doctor and she says
that's good. She didn't seem to care about the difference between the
palmitate A and beta-carotene A, either. I've only got two websites up
there, so you should probably do your own research to feel comfortable -
thought the spina bifida people are probably a top source for folic acid
advice, the vitamin A stuff isn't nearly as cut and dry.

--
-- Vicki
Married DH May 21, 1995
Ima shel DS, born 11/16/99; and DD, born 5/19/02.
"Stay-at-home" Ima since October 2002.
An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. -Spanish proverb
I may not currently be pregnant, but I look pregnant, does that count?

[Ilse Witch]

Kim R. wrote:
> In terms of TCC, what's the real difference? I'm currently taking Women's 1
> a Day and a vitamin C. Should I switch to prenatal? When I looked at the
> labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same thing. Also, my multi
> gives me 100% of folic acid, so do I still need to take an additional
> supplement?

Prenatals typically contain more iron, calcium and betacarotene instead
of vitamin A, and their folic acid content is higher. Except for the
folic acid, the minerals and vitamins you take while TTC are not that
critical, and you can continue with what you take now.

However, 100% folic acid should correspond to at least 400mg. Check your
vitamins for the real folic acid content. If that is OK, there is no
problem in taking these until you know you are pregnant, and then switch
to prenatals.

--
-- I
mommy to DS (15m)
guardian of DH (32)
EDD 05/17/2004
War doesn't decide who's right, only who's left

[Ilse Witch]

Ilse Witch wrote:

> However, 100% folic acid should correspond to at least 400mg. Check your
> vitamins for the real folic acid content. If that is OK, there is no
> problem in taking these until you know you are pregnant, and then switch
> to prenatals.
>

Sorry, that should be micrograms, not milligrams!

--
-- I
mommy to DS (15m)
guardian of DH (32)
EDD 05/17/2004
War doesn't decide who's right, only who's left

[Michelle J. Haines]

In article >,
> However, 100% folic acid should correspond to at least 400mg.

400 mcg. Micrograms, not milligrams.

Michelle
Flutist

--
In my heart. By my side.
Never apart. AP with Pride!
Katrina Marie (10/19/96)
Xander Ryan (09/22/98 - 02/23/99)
Gareth Xander (07/17/00) Zachary Mitchell
Theona Alexis (06/03/03) (01/12/94, fostered 09/05/01 - 07/23/03)

[Jenrose]

"Kim R." > wrote in message
t...
> In terms of TCC, what's the real difference? I'm currently taking Women's
1
> a Day and a vitamin C. Should I switch to prenatal? When I looked at the
> labels, they seemed to offer pretty much the same thing. Also, my multi
> gives me 100% of folic acid, so do I still need to take an additional
> supplement?

If it helps, I was nursing so long that I got in the habit of taking
prenatals most of the time instead of any other vitamin for years. I look
for capsules, not tablets, and lower amounts of A.

Now, I just take my daughter's chewables.

When I get pg, I'll probably cobble together my own combo from individual
vitamins rather than going the massive multi route. I have a very good diet
and my needs are a little different because of my genetic clotting disorder,
so I'll be tailoring mine to managing THAT. For example, I'll be pushing
magnesium more than calcium, adding extra b-vitamins and adding some oil
supplements (specifically vitamin E, DHA and GLA) as well as some herbal and
food measures.

If I do a multi, it will probably be in the form of something I drink.

Not pregnant but beginning to think about planning to start to TTC in less
than a year, I'm currently doing:

Lots of vitamin C
Calcium and Magnesium
Lutein
Vit. E
Stress complex/folic acid
Chewable kid multi (1 per day)

And since food is important, I also have:
1 bowl of old fashioned oatmeal with ground flax and dried fruit (Iron,
fiber, essential fatty acids, vitamins) every day
cutting back on refined carbs and hydrogenated oils
Fresh fruits and veggies except where frozen is more nutritious every day
(this time of year: Apples, pears, golden kiwis, froz green beans, squash,
yams, broccoli, spinach)
Raw nuts when I can get 'em (toss 'em in the oatmeal!)
Sardines several times a week
Oysters or other shellfish once a week
Salmon when wild is available at an affordable price.

When I start officially TTC, I will add:
A custom blend of 100% purple grape juice and pure cranberry juice every day
before bed for medicinal purposes.
Garlic every day if I can stomach it, Ginger if I can't (Ginger is not
recommended for all pregnant women, but it is safer for me to take it than
for me not to take it due to the clotting disorder) Ginsing (ditto) if and
only if the ginger and garlic aren't stomachable.
More greens

I am also eating lean meats--when I start TTC we will probably switch to
organic totally, vs. now where it's a sometimes thing.

My personal priorities: Avoid clotting, avoid infections, avoid limiting my
diet too severely (I already cannot do dairy, peanuts and a variety of other
foods.) Why avoid infections, besides the obvious? We have terrible
histories of allergies in our families, and I desperately want to avoid
taking antibiotics between the time I start TTC and my child's first
birthday. So a great diet and good nutrition is super-important to me.

When I start breastfeeding, I will drop nuts, eggs and soy from my diet for
the first six months or so, and rotate grains and other legumes.

Why such a lengthy answer?

Because I think taking "a vitamin made for everyone" isn't always the best
solution.
Jenrose