Vitamins and other nutritional supplements in Pregnancy

Many pregnant women take vitamins and other nutritional supplements. This is no bad thing but, crucially, it is not universally good either. There are supplements that may be required, others are simply useless and a few are potentially harmful and should be actively avoided during pregnancy. This section is meant to give clarity on this important subject.

A lot of prospective parents find the whole subject of nutritional supplements confusing but they are not alone in this. A lot of health professionals who are supposed to give advice aren’t so sure-footed when it comes to the issues surrounding vitamins and other nutritional supplements during pregnancy.

As a broad statement, it is important to be aware that many supplements are harmless but of little value to most pregnant mothers. Some supplements are potentially useful and, for some mothers, crucial in ensuring a good pregnancy outcome. A few supplements are potentially harmful especially in high doses.

Here, we aim to clarify which supplement falls in which group to clear the air. There is a lot of misinformation out there.

Which vitamin supplements in Pregnancy?

There are two broad groups of vitamins. The four Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble. The rest, that is the B group and C are water-soluble. The importance of the distinction is that water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body so regular replenishment is essential.

The B Group: There are eight different vitamins which fall in this group. These are:

v Thiamine (B1)

v Riboflavin (B2)

v Niacin (B3)

v Pantothenic Acid (B5)

v Pyridoxine (B6)

v Biotin (B7)

v Folic Acid (B9)

v Cyanocobalamin (B12)

We do not intend to go into details about the role of each of these. The logic behind the numbering of the B group vitamins is of historical importance only and details of that, for those interested, can be found elsewhere.

Continues next page