Supplements

[MrsArcher]

Okay so, I've been taking folic acid and iron since I started TTC.
Now that I'm pregnant, I know I need more.
Should I stop taking my individual iron and FA and just get a prenatal, or just get the other recommended supplements?

 

[2have4kids]

I'm on pregvit, it splits up the iron & calcium as you're not meant to take them together. They bind in your tummy and constipated you. You poop them both out leaving you deficient in iron. Iron carries the oxygen on your blood to feed your baby's brain. When pregnant women are deficient in it it causes ADHD, learning & development disabilities in the child and post parturition depression in mom. So there's a pink pill with Pregvit with iron in the morning and folic acid and calcium in the blue pill at night.

Saying that I'm going to stop taking the blue ones and get folate instead. I already take liquid B12 and D3 in the evening, I'll start taking liquid calcium/mag and folate instead of folic acid too now that I know why folate is so much better than folic acid.
https://healthybabycode.com/5-myths-about-pregnancy-nutrition-5-folic-acid-supplements-are-safe

 

[makeupmama2b]

I have been taking an advanced Prenatal from Prenatal One with Folic Acid, Iron and Probiotics along with Omega 3 Fish Oil.

 

[mrsrof]

I'll be honest, I only took folic acid in my first pregnancy and only for the first trimester. Supplements, especially ones containing iron, don't agree with my insides (pregnancy makes me constipated enough without adding iron to the equation!), but I believe you can get all the vitamins you need through food

Some examples of food high in folic acid are broccoli, brussels sprouts, liver (but you're not supposed to eat liver while pregnant due to high Vit A content!), spinach, asparagus, peas, chickpeas, brown rice, fortified breakfast cereals.

Some foods high in iron include meat, beans, nuts, dried fruit such as dried apricots, wholegrains such as brown rice, fortified breakfast cereals, soybean flour, most dark-green leafy vegetables such as watercress and curly kale.

 

[2have4kids]

It 's really difficult to get all your daily iron through food, I have to disagree with the pp. 28 mg/ day, which is what pregnant women require, is equivalent to 10 plates of spinach. We don't absorb veg (non-heme) iron very well either and if you drink milk, cream or have yoghurt with your daily 'food' dose of iron, it won't get absorbed. Since your baby's cognitive functions depend on getting enough iron, it's worth making sure you're getting enough. Iron & folate are the two most important prenatal supplements.

My girlfriend was very laid back with supplements and didn't take care to eat a super fresh diet with enough iron (almost impossible to do even with a perfect diet). She didn't like taking prenatals either. Her girls both have learning disabilities. It took her first DD an extra year to start speaking, and out of frustration for not being able to communicate, she started acting out at daycare (biting & hitting the other children). They had to remove her and put her in a day home where she got more one-on-one attention. Now she's in school struggling to read. When her daughters were born she had to go on antidepressants to deal with post partum depression. It's not worth being stubborn or careless about iron/prenatals there's too much depending on you right now.
Here's a credible list showing how much iron is really in our in food:
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/