How Prenatal Nutrients Can Play A Very Important Part During Pregnancy
If you are pregnant, congratulations! It is a wonderful journey and one that you will not forget. Part of enjoying your pregnancy is staying as healthy as possible and prenatal nutrients can help with this. There are a few nutrients that you need to make sure any supplement has, and you need to look for them when choosing which prenatal vitamins you will take.
Folic acid is important because it helps your baby form a proper nervous system. It helps the neural tubes which are important to the nervous system form correctly and allows the skin to close over the spinal cord at the right stage of development. If the nervous system does not form properly, the baby can develop a serious and life threatening disease. Because the nervous system is formed in very early pregnancy, health care officials are recommending that women take folic acid supplements before they become pregnant so that there are the proper levels of this nutrient in your body. You should also try and eat foods that are high in folate, a natural form of folic acid.
If the spinal cord and nervous system do not develop properly, the baby can be born with spina bifida. Depending on the extent of the illness, it can cause fluid to form on the baby’s brain and the spinal cord can be left exposed. This can lead to death or mental retardation and can be extremely serious and hard to correct. Because of this, if you are on medications which can affect the levels of folic acid in your body, you may want to speak with your doctor about extra folic acid supplements and monitoring the levels in your body.
Another of the nutrients which are critical to a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby is iron.
You need this to help build a proper blood supply for the baby as well as form a healthy placenta. This is what the baby will use to nurture and feed itself during the rest of the pregnancy so you need to make sure it forms properly. A lack of iron can lead to anemia which can result in serious health complications. If you find that you are getting queasy because of the iron you are taking, you may want to try a different form of iron. The two forms available are ferrous gluconate and ferrous fumerate. Iron supplements can cause constipation and dark colored stools which can be offputting but is often not serious.
Calcium is critical to you and the developing baby. The baby is actually able to leach calcium from your own bones and this can lead to osteoporosis and soft teeth. This was often a symptom of pregnancy that many women would suffer from before they found out about the importance of calcium in the diet. By taking enough calcium while you are pregnant you can prevent this from happening.
One of the best ways to get any nutrient is through a balanced diet. This is not always possible for all pregnant women but you need to make sure that you try as much as possible. In the early days, when morning sickness is a problem, a vitamin supplement is even more critical.
You can get vitamins in pill form, but you can also get them in powdered and liquid formulas. This may be best if you have trouble swallowing solids. They are worth a try as long as you make sure they have the right nutrients for proper development. You can also take them at night so that you can sleep through any periods of nausea.
If you are a vegan, you may think it is impossible for you to find vegetarian supplements that do not contain animal products. These are becoming easier to find in many health food stores. Make sure that you speak to your health care provider so that they can evaluate the vitamins and make any recommendations about taking extra supplements.
When researching information about Prenatal Support getting the right advice is most important. Please visit the Solgar site for up-to-date recommendations. Keith Woolley is a Technical Director for On-line Web Stores.
Tags: babies, Baby, diet, family, health, natural, nutrition, pregnancy, vitamins, womens health
