Vitamins During Pregnancy: 4 Vital Nutrients Pregnant Moms Need in Their Diets Healthy Pregnancy Eating for Two

Vitamins are important during your entire lifetime, but even more so when you’re pregnant. While all vitamins and minerals play a role in your health, folic acid, iron, calcium and vitamin D are high on the playbill when you're expecting. 

• Folic acid (folate) tops the list of vitamins to put on your pregnancy nutrition radar. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist (ACOG), “Before pregnancy and during pregnancy, you need 400 micrograms of folic acid daily to help prevent major birth defects of the fetal brain and spine called neural tube defects. Current dietary guidelines recommend that pregnant women get at least 600 micrograms of folic acid daily from all sources.” Getting your recommended amount of folic acid may be hard from just food sources, so be sure to take a prenatal vitamin with folic acid.  

• Iron is crucial during pregnancy because it helps your body make blood to get oxygen to your fetus. Pregnant women need almost double the amount of iron vs. non-pregnant women. Double! According to the ACOG, “The daily recommended dose of iron during pregnancy is 27 mg, which is found in most prenatal vitamin supplements. You also can eat iron-rich foods, including lean red meat, poultry, fish, dried beans and peas, iron-fortified cereals and prune juice. Iron also can be absorbed more easily if iron-rich foods are eaten with vitamin C-rich foods, such as citrus fruits and tomatoes.”

• With your baby’s growing bones and teeth, it’s time to cue calcium. “All women, including pregnant women, aged 19 years and older should get 1,000 mg of calcium daily; those aged 14 to 18 years should get 1,300 mg daily,” says the ACOG. Make sure calcium is in your vitamin or buy a supplement (talk to your doctor), and look for it in food sources like cheese, dairy products, broccoli, leafy green and sardines.

• And what usually follows calcium? Vitamin D! Why? Because it works with calcium to help grow your baby’s bones and teeth, and is crucial for healthy eyesight and skin. The ACOG says, “All women, including those who are pregnant, need 600 international units of vitamin D a day. Good sources are milk fortified with vitamin D and fatty fish such as salmon. Exposure to sunlight also converts a chemical in the skin to vitamin D.”

Learn more about nutrition during pregnancy via the ACOG. 

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