So let's talk a little bit about prenatal
vitamins.
It's important for a woman to start taking
the prenatal vitamins before she gets pregnant.
I usually recommend about a month before they
go off any kind of birth control so there's
an overlap.
The most important component of the prenatal
vitamin is the folic acid.
It helps prevent neural tube defects.
What you want to look for on the back is make
sure it has at least 800 micrograms of folic
acid, and then that's a good prenatal vitamin.
The prenatal vitamins that you buy in the
store that label themselves prenatal vitamins
have a lot of extra stuff that's probably
unnecessary.
The most important part is the folic acid.
Once you're pregnant it's important to add
something called DHA, or omega-3 fatty acids.
And a lot of prenatal vitamins have it, but
a lot of them don't.
So you have to read the label and make sure
it has it.
Or buy it separately and start taking it as
soon as you're pregnant.
And in that one you should stay on it while
you're breastfeeding, too.
The folic acid is really better before you're
pregnant and the first trimester.
