Do I need prescription prenatal vitamins?
Nope – there is nothing magic about the prescription version of prenatal vitamins.
Many women are handed a prescription for prenatal vitamins at their first prenatal visit. To be honest, this really isn’t necessary—and that’s a good thing if you are trying to get pregnant or are already pregnant and haven’t had a visit yet! You should be sure to go with a reputable brand, however, and avoid brands with very extreme doses of certain vitamins/minerals (for example, avoid vitamins that have 5,000 IU or more of vitamin A as this is linked with birth defects).
The most important ingredients in prenatal vitamins are folic acid, iron, and calcium, so be sure to check for that. You should also avoid additional herbal ingredients, as the majority of these have not been tested in pregnant women.
Hello, I’m 5 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I had my first visit to the doctor 2 days ago and he did not prescribed me with prenatal vitamins. I’ve been having a lil bit of cramps and lower back pain and I’m trying to do everything I can to ensure my baby is ok.
Is that ok if i start taking prenatal vitamins even if the doctor did not prescribe it to me?
Thanks for your help
Yep! No need to have a prescription – any mainstream over the counter prenatal vitamin will do. Congrats!
Thank you so much for your early response
I never thought about getting vitamins through insurance! Might have to look into that one next time around…
And I took just a gummy multi-vitamin and added a folic acid supplement. Prenatals made me even more nauseated, so the multi-vitamin worked out so much better! And my doc said she never took prenatals or any other vitamin. She just changed the way she ate in order to get the necessary nutrients. She is a health nut, too, so she knew what she was doing there! 😉
I just remember my doctor telling me to make sure there was folic acid in ones that I chose. But I ended up having him give me a prescription because they were cheaper through my insurance!
My doctor told me to try and have a well balanced meal and take whichever vitamins I wanted. Sounds crazy, right? I did exactly that. I took Flinstones vitamins. He said I could…….. 🙂