Pregnant women should take prenatal vitamins.
Prenatal vitamins are essential if you are planning on getting pregnant or if you are already pregnant. According to Mayoclinic.com, prenatal vitamins can help prevent low birth weights in newborns. You can get the vitamins via a doctor's prescription or you can purchase them over the counter, in the drug store. Knowing go about purchasing prenatal vitamins is important because the vitamins need to contain certain essential elements.
Instructions
1. Purchase vitamins as soon as you know that you want to try to get pregnant. Mayoclinic.com recommends taking the vitamins as early as three months before conception because a baby's spinal cord and brain start developing in the first month of pregnancy. This may be even before you know that you are pregnant.
2. Decide whether you want vitamins in tablet, liquid or chewable form. Tablets vary in size and if you have problems swallowing them, opt for liquid or chewable prenatal vitamins.
3. Read the label of the prenatal vitamins and look for folic acid. Webmd.com recommends prenatal vitamins with 400 micrograms of per serving. Folic acid prevents brain and spinal cord abnormalities.
4. Confirm that the prenatal vitamins of your choice have approximately 17 milligrams of iron in them per serving. Iron prevents anemia and supports muscle and blood cell development in the mother and the baby.
5. Prevent bone density loss by choosing a prenatal vitamin with 200 to 300 milligrams of calcium.
6. Purchase prenatal vitamins that, aside from iron, folic acid and calcium, also contain vitamins and minerals including vitamin D, vitamin C, thiamine, niacin, vitamin E, vitamin B12, riboflavin and zinc. Try to eat a healthy diet and vitamins will help fill in the nutritional gaps.
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