The Benefits of Pregnancy Vitamins: Get Necessary Nutrients Your Diet May Lack

Eating a healthy, varied diet in pregnancy is essential to the healthy development of your baby. But is it possible to fulfill all your nutritional needs during pregnancy only with a healthy diet? Pregnancy vitamin Australia experts explain in most of the cases it is not.

A pregnant woman's energy requirements increase by an average 300 calories per day during pregnancy, while protein requirements increase up to 75 grams per day. Plus, the need for certain nutrients increases as well. If you have a busy life (who don't today), it can be difficult for you to find time to prepare and eat a nutritious diet to supplement all these increased requirements. Pregnancy vitamins typically contain the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals necessary to ensure you get the basic requirements during your pregnancy.

Best Pregnancy Vitamins to Take

Folate (600-800 micrograms per day)

Folate deficiency is the second most common deficiency in pregnant women and usually co-exists with iron deficiency. You should take folate before conception and throughout pregnancy. It is a B vitamin that helps prevent neural tube defects as well as more complex abnormalities of the spinal cord and brain. Folate makes a better choice over folic acid (a synthetic form of folate often found in fortified foods and supplements) and is recommended by pregnancy vitamins Australia experts to be taken for at least three months before conception. Folate is also known to help prevent anemia.

Iron (27 milligrams per day)

Anemia is pretty common in pregnancy. When you are pregnant, your blood levels increase almost twice as much as normal, causing your body to require more iron to produce more hemoglobin for all that extra blood. Iron is extremely important for the delivery of oxygen to the baby as well as to prevent anemia in the expecting mom. Studies have also reported that iron can help prevent premature delivery.

Calcium (1.000 milligrams per day)

Calcium prevents bone loss in the mother and helps build the baby's bone. It also assists your muscular, circulatory and nervous systems run normally – one of the main reasons why calcium deficiency is dangerous for you and your unborn child.

Vitamin D (600 milligrams per day)

Vitamin D also helps build your baby's bones and teeth. Deficiency of vitamin D can also affect your blood pressure, brain function and immunity mood, so make sure you get enough vitamin D supplement.

If you are vegetarian and is pregnant, it is extremely important that you get the nutrients that you will need through supplements. These include zinc, iron, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids like DHA. You can choose supplements that contain these vitamins extracted from a vegetarian source, like algae.