Due to our increased knowledge with regard to health, many women have become informed with regard to the importance of prenatal vitamins and their role in preventing birth defects. It is important to know that both mother and child do have increased nutritional needs during pregnancy.Although many women are prescribed prenatal vitamins by their doctors during their pregnancy, it is becoming more common in some areas that even women who are planning to conceive begin taking prenatal vitamins. Thus many women begin protecting their body's early.

Most Prenatal vitamins are specially formulated to make up for nutritional deficiencies in a mother's diet, and contain supplements such as vitamins, zinc, iron, and calcium. Perhaps most important, they contain folic acid, which reduces the risk of serious birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. Prenatal vitamins could very well prove to play a vital role in a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, due in large part to the great defiencies now found in most of our food. However, prenatal vitamins are not meant to be your sole source of nutrients. They are meant to supplement, or prevent certain nutrient deficiencies. Eating a healthy, varied and balanced diet will go a long way toward ensuring the health of both mother and infant.

IMPORTANT NUTRIENTS FOR MOTHER AND CHILD:

DHA

DHA is a fatty acid belonging to the omega- 3 family, and it is very important for brain development. This nutrient is crucial for the baby from the very beginning of pregnancy through the time of breast feeding. It is essential to the body, but much more so during pregnancy.

IRON

Iron is a mineral and is another important nutrient in pregnancy. Most prenatal supplements will include iron in their mixture. During the third and final trimester of pregnancy the baby will draw large amounts of iron from the mother. It will obtain this iron from the stored levels in the mother's body.

FOLIC ACID

Folic Acid is very essential for a healthy pregnancy and healthy fetal development. It has been shown to decrease the risk of birth defects like spine bifida or other neural tube defects. Folic acid is naturally found in dark, leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, dried beans, and whole grain breads and cereals. Most cereals are also fortified with many other vitamins and can be a good dietary choice for the pregnant woman who cannot tolerate vitamins. Folic acid is an essential nutrient that can help prevent birth defects in newborns.

Folic acid has been proven essential to a baby's neural tube development during the first three months of a woman's pregnancy. This is the time when the mother is most likely to experience nausea and vomiting. Folic acid is regarded as so important that it is often recommended that women start taking folate, 30 days or more prior to attempting to conceive.

CALCIUM

Calcium is certainly important in the development of a new baby. Calcium, 400 mg/day, and magnesium, 300 mg/day, help protect the mother's bones and can help prevent pre-eclampsia. Chromium, 200 mg/day, helps control the mother's blood sugar, and look for the following B vitamins: B12, 120 mg/day; B6, 20 mg/day, and B5, also known as pantothenic acid, 20 mg/day. CALCIUM - A supplement that contains 2-300 mg calcium is just a start toward reaching the recommended 1200 mg daily. However, anything beyond 250 mg of calcium (or 25 mg of magnesium) should not be taken at the same time as supplemental iron since both calcium and magnesium interfere with the absorption of the iron.

Not all prenatal vitamins are of the same quality of course. They all tend to have all of the basic nutrients in them that are necessary at such a crucial time for a woman's body. However, the best prenatal will provide what mother and child needs, at just the right amounts, as well as avoiding amounts that tend to toxicity.