When to Start Taking Prenatal Vitamins
If you're wondering when to start taking prenatal vitamins, you've come to the right place.
Pretend we are at our favorite local coffee shop. I’m having an iced oat milk latte, you’re having your drink of choice, and we’re just going to chat about the importance of prenatal vitamins and when you should start taking them. Nothing overwhelming. Just a real conversation about what actually matters and when to begin.
The Best Time to Start
Long story short, it’s best to start taking your prenatal vitamin three months prior to when you start trying to conceive.
Eggs take 90 to 100 days to mature, and the environment in which they mature matters greatly for egg quality. And egg quality impacts fertility and the health of the baby.
So if you’re trying to plan ahead, three months is best. That gives your body time. It gives your eggs time. It supports the environment they’re maturing in.
If you’re caught off guard with a surprise pregnancy, as soon as you find out that you’re pregnant, that’s when I recommend starting. Start ASAP. Immediately. The earlier you get nutrients on board, the better.
Why It Matters
The baby’s neural tube forms within the first four weeks. Often women don’t find out they’re pregnant until past that.
That’s why taking a prenatal with adequate nutrients, including folic acid, is important for the baby’s development.
Folic acid is the most studied form and is recommended by the CDC and ACOG to prevent neural tube deficits like spina bifida. This is one of the biggest reasons we talk about starting early instead of waiting.
What to Look For in a Prenatal
First and foremost, folic acid.
If you have a known MTHFR gene, methylfolate may be better. But I still recommend supplementing with folic acid to ensure you’re still getting that in your system for the baby because that is what is evidence based at this point.
Other things to look for include:
Vitamin D
Choline
Iron
I do like to recommend avoiding gummies if possible because they’re loaded with sugar. That said, some women can’t tolerate swallowing pills when they’re pregnant, so gummies are a better option in that situation.
There are powder options available as well if you can’t tolerate gummies OR swallowing a pill.
To wrap it up…
It’s best to start taking a prenatal three months before trying, but as early as possible is best.
Prenatals are preconception care. They do affect the quality of your eggs and your baby’s overall health. It’s not just a pregnancy care thing.
If you have questions about which prenatal would be best for you specifically, we like to make it an individualized thing. Please reach out to us. We’d love to help.
