09. The Prenatal Retrospective
On finding a "supplement" routine that works for me.
It's easy to write a post about what to look for in a prenatal supplement, but please know that the world of supplements is slippery. I experienced many bumbles and fumbles along the way. Here's my prenatal journey, complete with reviews of each supplement I encountered, what I take now (*spoiler* it's not a traditional prenatal supplement), and supplements I can recommend in good faith.
On a whim, I bought my first prenatal, a beautiful package of supplements in my post-facial haze at a holistic beauty spa. Movita Organics does an incredible job of using food-based sources for most nutrients, plus I love to see the methyl folate! Unfortunately, choline and magnesium are missing from the ingredient list. One of the benefits of leaving these out is they are bulky and end up making doses higher. One thing you can look for is that prenatals should usually have more than one or two pills per dose. This serving size is only 2, and the price for a bottle of 60 tablets is $44.99, so we'll give this prenatal a 7/10.
Once I was pregnant, my naturopath at the time recommended Metagenics prenatal packs. Excellent in theory, these packets include DHA and EPA. But they smell SO STRONG I could barely get them down. Lesson learned: prenatals only work for you if you can take them. A one-month supply costs $89.75, which seems wildly expensive until you consider buying each supplement separately, such as a different cod liver oil, iron, magnesium, etc. My review comes in at a 6/10 because if you can't take the prenatal, what's the point?
After losing this pregnancy, I spoke to a birth trauma specialist who was extremely helpful and recommended the Ancient Nutrition TCM Prenatal. Similar to the Movita formulation, you'll notice many of the nutrients are sourced from food and, therefore, more bioavailable. What stands out, though, is the amount of each nutrient is much higher than the Movita ingredient list, which aligns with new data1 suggesting that the conventional daily values established for pregnant women are far too low. Each bottle is $42.46, so we'll give this a 7/10 as well.
Finally, I found an incredible nutritionist who worked with me on a complete overhaul of my diet and supplement routine. Because of my history with preeclampsia, we looked at my blood work and wanted to cover any possibility of a nutrient deficiency from both a food and supplement perspective. "Passing" blood serum values wouldn't cut it; we wanted optimal values across the board. Perhaps this is the most crucial step that never gets discussed when we tell our doctors we plan (or try) to get pregnant. The foundation of our health is our food and supplements are truly what their names suggest: supplements to our food.
By working with this nutritionist, I found that I was consuming approximately 1,600 calories a day, far less than the 1,800-2,000 that signals to our body that we are safe, satiated, and prepared to procreate. We tailored the Brewers Diet to my daily meal planning, the basis of which is three glasses of milk (or other dairy), two eggs, and LOTS of protein daily. We established these new eating routines and then layered in a personalized supplement plan of desiccated beef liver, methylated folate, cod liver oil, Vitamin E, desiccated oyster, Vitamin D3/K2, magnesium, probiotic, AND baby aspirin.
It's a lot. One day, I'll put down the numbers, but I'll tell you what: this combination brought my happy, healthy baby earthside, so 10/10!
If you don't have any pre-existing conditions, I would recommend the Fullwell ($49.95), Needed ($59.99), or Seeking Health ($65) prenatal. For a cod liver oil supplement my personal favorite is Rosita's ($64.95). As with any supplement recommendation, talk to your doctor before changing your supplement routine, and while you're at it, ask if they can get your bloodwork done to screen for any possible nutrient deficiencies :)
Mousa A, Naqash A, Lim S. Macronutrient and Micronutrient Intake during Pregnancy: An Overview of Recent Evidence. Nutrients. 2019 Feb 20;11(2):443. doi: 10.3390/nu11020443. PMID: 30791647; PMCID: PMC6413112.