Pregnancy is a special time in a woman's life, and it's important to make sure that you're getting the right nutrients to support your health and the health of your baby. While your prenatal vitamin contains the right amount of nutrients you need during pregnancy, there are certain circumstances where you may need to take a dietary supplement. If you're a vegetarian, have food allergies, or can't eat certain foods, your healthcare provider may ask you to take a supplement to help you get more of certain nutrients. It is recommended that women do not use dietary or herbal supplements during pregnancy.
In addition, dietary and herbal supplements should be used with caution in women of reproductive age because of the risk of taking these supplements before they are known to be pregnant. Among pregnant women, the average intake of dietary supplements contributed to less than 100 percent of the recommended doses of magnesium, phosphorous, calcium, selenium, iodine and vitamin D. It is recommended that all pregnant women in Australia take folic acid, iodine and vitamin D supplements. Just as you should check with your doctor before taking any medication during pregnancy, it's best to talk to your doctor before taking any supplement.
Most pregnant and breastfeeding women use dietary supplements considered multivitamin mineral products (72.9 and 64.4 percent, respectively). However, when you're pregnant, or there's a chance that you could get pregnant, it's important that you also take a folic acid supplement. If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, you should be careful when taking vitamins or any other type of supplement. In contrast, women who weren't pregnant and who weren't breastfeeding generally reported that they had used a dietary supplement based on their own motivation.
There seems to be an infinite amount of information online related to the supplements a woman should take during pregnancy. It is essential that women who are pregnant or who are likely to become pregnant tell their healthcare provider if they are taking any supplements and that they discuss the risks and benefits of continuing with them. Make sure you know important facts about the foods you should avoid or take special care of during pregnancy. When you're pregnant, you need more of some nutrients, such as protein, folic acid, iodine, iron, and some vitamins.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women generally reported that they were using a dietary supplement because a healthcare provider told them to do so. Talk to your healthcare provider about prescribing a prenatal vitamin that is approved for use before you become pregnant and during pregnancy. The prevalence of dietary supplement use is higher among pregnant and breastfeeding women (77 and 70 percent, respectively) than among non-pregnant and non-breastfeeding women (45 percent). First, she recognized that several cycles of NHANES data were combined to have a sufficient sample size of pregnant women and that dietary intake over that time could have changed.
