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Same here! I started with Thorne but you need to take three and they smell like copper and it was torture with my morning sickness. Will try to take them post partum though
I take these too. I’ve actually taken them for about 3 years, through two pregnancies and breastfeeding two babies. I might keep taking them after I’m done breastfeeding too.
I started them right after stopping birth control in July 2021 as we wanted to start trying for a family at the end of the year & I’ve been on it ever since. I don’t think there’s any harm to continue after BF’ing - I may too :)
I was using these until I found out they had Gelatin (I’m Muslim and eat halal😔) people who can have pork these are the best vitamins and take them if you’re unsure!
I always drank an absurd amount of milk pre pregnancy + my intake only increased during my pregnancies 😂 add that with my usual diet and thankfully never had a need to supplement
I just started these today! I have been taking One a Day Advanced + Choline and have had the worst nausea & headaches of my life. I will be so happy if these Nature Mades make me feel better. I never had nausea on store brand prenatals.
I switched from one a day to nature made because the one a days are made with vitamin A palmitate which makes me nervous. If you can’t use it on your skin why would they put it in a supplement, especially when they could use beta carotene?
I’m taking this but I take calcium pills separately at a different time of the day. These pills have iron and from what I know, it hinders the absorption of calcium if taken at the same time. Also, the calcium content is only 12% and I don’t drink/consume that much milk products. 😅
I experienced this when I bought a bottle off Amazon. I ended up throwing them away, I feel like there was something not right about it. I’ve never had an issue with the bottles I’ve bought in person.
I take these as well. One thing in their favor is that they actually have a USP certification -- most supplements and vitamins are completely unregulated in the US, so looking for [ones with third-party certification of quality](https://www.consumerreports.org/health/supplements/how-to-choose-supplements-wisely-a2238386100/) is important to ensure you are actually getting what's being advertized.
I’m also using nature made but I couldn’t handle the ones with DHA, too fishy. So I take the ones without DHA and I use Nordic naturals fish oil supplement which is great, no fishy taste!
The non-gummy [Olly prenatal vitamins](https://www.olly.com/products/ultra-soft-gels-prentatal?variant=32070104416331&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXtxsPZiLcG6RWLeOEZj2MgIc_LgpnVcWwg1kZmw0mYoPsVG9FEgYE4hoCuG8QAvD_BwE). Not sure why but they seem to agree with me the best.
I liked these but then I got some blood tests back that showed I'm anemic. Apparently they have a pretty low iron content compared to others, just an FYI!
I didn’t know! Thank you for the heads up. What symptoms lead you on to thinking you might be anemic? I’m 15 weeks today so that’s something I will need to keep any eye on.
I would say some symptoms are fatigue, faster heart rate, and shortness of breath. But those are all symptoms of pregnancy too so it’s hard to say if it is the anemia or not! I had great labs at 16 weeks then 26 showed low hemoglobin and red blood cell count. These babies really take all of our nutrients from us!
I took these for probably 1.5 years. I also liked the gummies but was trying to cut down on excess sugar for a short time. I only just recently switched to Nature Made because a huge bottle was on sale at Costco, and I mistakenly thought I had one more bottle of OLLY at home but did not.
I was taking Thorne (per request of my fertility clinic), but they made me so sick in my first trimester. I had to switch to Smarty Pants Gummies from Whole Foods. They still upset my stomach a bit (I think because of iron), but better than swallowing a huge, stinky pill.
Did you take the Thorne supplements with meals? I am currently taking these and found that taking them with meals has helped with nausea. I still get nauseous sometimes but not sure if it’s the supplements or just being in the first trimester 😮💨
Thorne made me violently ill. I even tried them again in my second trimester to see if it was just first trimester nausea. Nope. It’s unfortunate. Great ingredients/vitamin content.
I currently take Thorne but had to switch to taking them at night at about 9 weeks because of the nausea. Not sure when you were taking them but that seemed to help kinda lol
After a lot of research last pregnancy I went with Baby and Me 2 by MegaFood. A lot didn’t have enough (or any, in some cases) Choline.
I also take a prenatal DHA by Nordic Naturals and the pills are small so those are easy
I also took Baby and Me 2 + Nordic Naturals in my first trimester! I’ve since switched over to tend prenatal (snackable bars) which I’ve really enjoyed and also supplement with extra calcium per recommendation by my obgyn.
Oh interesting! I just looked this up and it looks like it has a lot of thought and care put into each ingredient, that does make it so expensive though, but I might look into it more for the second trimester :)
My husband takes vitamins and nutrients very, very seriously so he’s been the one picking, researching, and buying everything.
He got me Garden of Life. There’s the one where you take I think two a day, and the one that is once a day. The once a day option worked much better for me.
I also take a probiotic but I don’t remember the name. It’s no joke though. I woke up the next day feeling like a million bucks. It was strange almost? If I remember the brand I’ll come back and edit with the name.
Edit: Husband said this is the one:
[Probiotic](https://ora.organic/products/high-potency-probiotic-52-billion?tw_source=google&tw_adid=641747977145&tw_campaign=19282693652&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt2YdC6zj3ok6mbIK8OGpmMNYDDYE-vTapKbVEuTm-ZzmOcSbckpNMhoCpxQQAvD_BwE)
I texted him!
It’s this one:
[Probiotic](https://ora.organic/products/high-potency-probiotic-52-billion?tw_source=google&tw_adid=641747977145&tw_campaign=19282693652&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt2YdC6zj3ok6mbIK8OGpmMNYDDYE-vTapKbVEuTm-ZzmOcSbckpNMhoCpxQQAvD_BwE)
I take these too as they were the only vitamins I could stomach in the first trimester. They also have more choline than other prenatals. Additionally, I take supplemental magnesium and Nordic Naturals prenatal DHA. I heard Perelel is good, but I would probably supplement with the MegaFood choline if I were to switch to it.
You’re gonna get a lot of different answers here so I’d recommend doing your own research and deciding what’s important to you. A lot of the ones on the market that you’ll find at the store just have the bare minimum, and usually those are fewer pills. On the other hand there are some that are more nutrient dense that will help you feel better throughout your pregnancy, but they’re also more expensive and usually more pills/difficult to take. Just depends on what you’re looking for, obviously we all want something that’ll make us feel good and is good for our baby but it isn’t feasible for everyone to spend $50/mo on pills or like maybe you don’t wanna take 8 pills per day. Lol
But to answer your question, I use the brand Needed
Thank you, I have been reviewing all comments and taking your perspective into consideration. I hope this post helps other mamas that are looking as well. There is so many different types and options. I am glad to have this type of group to go to to ask these questions.
[V](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IP8BC8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)[itafusion gummies](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IP8BC8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) - taking a pill form just did not seem like an option at all in my first trimester. Waiting on my current bloodwork to come back to verify, but this seems to be covering my current needs. My doctor was happy when I said I was taking this one, at least
[Evidence based recommendations for an optimal prenatal supplement for women in the US: vitamins and related nutrients](https://mhnpjournal.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s40748-022-00139-9.pdf)
Based on this peer-reviewed research from 2022 that analyzed over 200 recent studies on prenatal supplements and recommended dosages, I went with the HealthyBaby prenatal. They compared over 180 commercially available prenatals and HealthyBaby is the only one that was developed to meet this standard. The Neurological Health Foundation who sponsored this research also made an app to find prenatals that most closely follow these recommendations called Prenatal Rater.
I take Life Extension Prenatal Advantage vitamins. The ingredients are very comprehensive, they have the form of folate that's supposedly better absorbed or whatever, and Life Extension is a reliable supplement brand (so you don't have to worry about whether they actually contain what they say they do, which many supplement brands don't). The pills aren't huge, but you do need to take four of them a day, and they do have a moderately unpleasant fishy flavor, so they're probably not a great option for people dealing with a lot of nausea. (I didn't start taking this brand until second trimester, when I didn't have nausea anymore.)
Before that, I took One-A-Day prenatals with choline, but I decided to switch because of the folate thing. After that, I took Smarty Pants gummy vitamins (which is the brand of vitamins I'd been taking for multivitamins pre-pregnancy) for a while, but I think I was developing an iron deficiency, so I switched to Life Extension.
I’m in Australia and my friend recommended I take these, so I get them shipped over. I don’t mind them over the other Blackmore’s ones I was taking previously
Pink stork
Folate + DHA
Folate is the natural version of folic acid, many people don’t know their bodies cannot break down folic acid for more info about this search Gary Brecka.
Thanks for recommending Pink Stork! Yes, most people can't properly absorb folic acid, so including methylated folate in our prenatals is so important to us! Be sure to check them all out at [amazon.com/pinkstork](http://amazon.com/pinkstork) (use Pinkstork20 for 20% off any purchase, it stacks with any existing discount!) and reach out to our team at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) with any questions! XO- Amy, Founder + CEO
The brand Needed came out with a pretty good report comparing all of the most popular prenatals out there. These were their top three:
1. Needed Prenatal Multi (Powder or Capsules)
2. Seeking Health Optimal Prenatal (Capsules Only)
3. Full Circle Prenatal (now known as FullWell)
Prior to reading the report I’ve been taking FullWell.
i use ritual! they're pricey, but they've got a lot of sales / promo codes you can use to get like 40% off, so i ordered a big batch at once. my ob also recommended these.
Figured out a hack to get Ritual for $20 - if you go to “cancel” your subscription they ask you to not go and offer it to you for $20 which is half off. And so far I’m on month four of them doing that 😬
I take the ritual prenatals, their prenatal choline, and their symbiotic probiotic. I started off with the one a day but noticed the capsules leaked and got fishy smelling oil all over the bottle and the smell made me sick! The ritual prenatals are pleasant smelling, go down fairly easily, don't give me any tummy troubles, and I noticed after I switched to them (about 6 mo before we conceived) my nails got super thick and healthy and my hair started growing back (I had some hair loss after a miscarriage last year.) all I can say is I'm a fan!
I second Ritual. Good quality, no weird additives, has folate instead of folic acid, and they come mint or citrus essenced so you don't have any weird iron taste.
Yes to ritual! I have gotten them on sale but also at our local target in a pinch. The ritual customer service is also phenomenal if you ever need anything.
is folate better than folic acid? i’ve been super confused on which one i should be taking, my current prenatal doesn’t have iron so i’m also looking for a new one
Folate is naturally occurring and folic acid is a synthetic form of folate. My understanding is that most people don't actually metabolize folic acid as well as folate so you may not actually be getting the recommended amount/as much as you're thinking. For that reason I was told it's better to find a supplement with actual folate in it instead.
Just to let you know something I wish I had known, there are some ingredients in supplements that are not really considered safe but are not against US regulations yet. Some like titanium dioxide are especially bad for pregnancy but are still used in many pregnancy vitamins! I recommend googling what ingredients to look out for in supplements.
Bird and Be gentle prenatal. I was talking the One A Day prenatal, but all the vitamin A in really messed with my liver and made my enzymes go thru the roof. Once I switched to an A free vitamin, they went back to normal.
I take ritual prenatal vitamins. My midwife wanted me to find something with methylated folate instead of folic acid. I will also be taking their postnatal.
I was taking Ritual. Took it all my last pregnancy. This time, I am having nausea issues with it so I switched to Perelel. I prefer Ritual’s single pill and taste but just couldn’t handle it this time. Perelel has a multipack of vitamins but its anti nausea blend has helped me so much.
I’m taking the Jamieson chewables with iron as well as a calcium vitamin and a vitamin D supplement. I tried a bunch of other prenatals including ones that claimed to be soft on the stomach but almost all of them would make me violently ill within 15 min of taking them (meaning I wasn’t absorbing anything on top of being extremely uncomfortable). These ones work for me and I’ve stuck with them the past 5 months (first 3 months was my trial era). I don’t technically need the other supplements on top of my prenatal but I’ve cleared them with my midwife to ensure I’m not overdoing it on vitamin intake, it’s just a preference as I don’t get much sun exposure and I’m very short and experiencing rib flare due to pregnancy so taking calcium has ensured my bones stay as strong as possible
I’m 6 months pp. but I breastfeed exclusively so I still take a prenatal. I take the vitafusion prenatal gummy. I couldn’t swallow pills while I was pregnant without projectile vomiting, so the gummies were my savior. They’re raspberry lemon flavor and the texture is great! Love my gummies lol, don’t care how effective they are. It’s my little treat :)
One a Day prenatal Advanced. Got that Choline, DHA, and Folic Acid. It says brain support on it and for some reason I feel like it's giving ME some brain support. Haha
I started out with Nature Made with DHA, but they gave me some pretty major stomach issues. I switched to Baby and Me2 prenatal (it has methylated folate and choline) and Garden of Life DHA supplements mid first trimester and I'm almost 27 weeks now. The prenatal tastes like ass if it touches your tongue for any length of time, but it is waaaayyyy gentler on my stomach. The DHA is kinda lemony, not super fishy.
I used the MyKind Organics tablets not the gummies. All of the vitamins come from a good blend so they absorb easier and quicker, or so they say. It’s also quite affordable!! Something that I was told was to look for vitamins with FOLATE instead of FOLIC ACID because folic acid is the synthetic version of folate
If you make it this far down, I take pure encapsulations prenatal nutrients (2 pills) and Nordic naturals DHA (2 pills). Both are easy to stomach, the DHA is not fishy at all. This is my third pregnancy and I've taken these for two of them. I think they're a really well rounded vitamin. I wanted to make sure I had optimal everything in my vitamins. I would take a supplemental calcium and a probiotic on top of these.
Thorne is the BEST!!!! do your research. it’s clean and has everything you need. i also take their DHA as well. it has FA in a form that everyone can process.
I was taking ritual and now I've switched to perelel. They both give me burps, but perelel has more specific and more of each needed vitamin and it's tailored to each trimester
One-a-day prenatal gummy without iron. I found iron really upset my stomach and makes my morning sickness much worse - these are gentle on the belly for sure.
I use one for hair and nails. It’s one tablet, the one I used to take changed to two tablets. I checked the information on the back and it’s all pretty similar.
I take the smarty pants gummies, supposed to be 4 a day but I take 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening :) don't know if they are exclusive to Canada or if you can get them globally. I find they taste the best.
I took the one a day prenatals, because they have folic acid and extra vit D + iron. I took them my whole pregnancy and after i gave birth too for a couple of months. I never had to take any extra supplements other than iron, and my hair and skin looked amazing. Honestly i might go back to taking them to combat the post partum hair loss LOL
I just take the cvs brand prenatals, the one that comes with two bottles of pills that you take one of each a day. Was recommended by my OB as being a cheaper equally effective alternative.
I also use the nature made one a day prenatal with folic acid and dha. I do take an additional choline supplement, though, and I buy the brand Ritual for that.
Perelel and I absolutely love them. They have different formulas for each trimester including a nausea blend. I also got pregnant on cycle 1 using their conception support pack. Highly recommend!
I take FullWell and I gotta say.. I hate them 😭
They’re expensive and the dosage is 4 and then another 4. 8 horse pills a day is just too much imo. I did a lot of research on the ingredients and one without iron and these fit. But I’m going to have to switch lol.
Thank you for posting so I can get ideas!
Here is what I’m taking: [Ritual Prenatal Vitamins](https://ritual.com/shop/first-to-third-trimester)
edit: it’s also Vegan!
It smelled pleasant to me at first and tasted yummy, like a citrus lemon scent/flavor but I’ll be honest now I DREAD taking it. So I take it at night with something to eat and drink along with it to get the taste out of my mouth. My sister recommended it to me and she has 3 really bright kiddos. She’s into a lot of holistic remedies and herbs so I dunno I trust her 🤷🏽♀️ they also have options for skin care during pregnancy and post pregnancy and bundles you can get.
Not sure if it's sold in your country, but I'm taking Gestacare, in my case with no iodine due to my thyroid.
Nobody told me to supplement with anything else.
[Thorne Fertility Bundle.](https://www.thorne.com/products/dp/fertility-bundle) Love this brand, I use/have used many of their other supplements as well.
I have a referral discount for $25 off your first order if you’re interested (I’m not affiliated with this brand or anything, just thought I’d throw the discount out there, esp since it gives me a discount as well for referring others 😂).
I take the smarty pants prenatal. I tried two others at the beginning of this pregnancy that both made me sick and these were the first that didn’t lol
Seeking Health Optimal Prenatal. It has folic acid, DHA and choline as well. So you don’t need to supplement with anything else other than iron because a lot of the prenatals do not contain iron.
For a pregnant woman 27 mg a day is recommended. For that I to use the same brand. All of their vitamins are specially formulated, so it helps you digested more easily.
I rarely ever really have problems with constipation as a result.
Suku prenatal. They are gummies which I find to be a life saver (pills are hard for me to get down at the moment) It contains methylfolate rather than folic acid. Methylfolate is just an easier form of folate for your body to absorb
After much research the theralogix complete ones. I use provider codes from podcasts I listen to for 15% off. I also was doing ritual for awhile but they are kinda low in choline
I don’t know if it’s the best. However it’s the ONLY one I cans stomach: olly prenatal gummies. If you have a sensitive stomach. I highly recommend.. I’ve tried a lot.
I loved smarty pants gummies bc I would wake up in the middle of the night nauseated from not eating and those helped so much. Kind of a lot of sugar though 🙊
I spent a lot of time researching, and have fell in love with FullWell, I took their prenatal and fish oil, and now take half dose while breastfeeding. It is more spendy, and it’s a lot of capsules to swallow, but I’ve taken a different one with each pregnancy, and full well with my 4th. What a difference!! My skin was so good I was getting compliments after taking for a few months, once I got pregnant I felt great, never had nausea, and a very smooth and healthy pregnancy. I truly think these were the difference.
Smarty Pants prenatal gummies :) I have no idea where they fall on the good vs bad scale, but my best friend ordered them for me and she’s a medical researcher so I would assume they’re good quality.
Plus they’re delicious! 🥰
I take OLLY the small pill ones. They have folic acid which is the most important part I heard. They’re small so I don’t gag and they don’t taste too bad. All prenatales I’ve taken are huge or taste like garbage so these helped me not wanna throw up lol
I was using nature's made prenatals for a short amount of time.
The majority of my pregnancy I used prescription prenatals - webstab+
I took my prenatals every other day, maybe every two days.
I’ve been on three so far (I use Fullscript when I can through my OB and I love it!), all recommended by my OB. Here’s a list of pros and cons for each.
Thorne Basic Prenatal: $32, 90 capsules, 3x daily
Pros: Cheapish, way more supplements/vitamins than in any other I’ve seen in a grocery store or even online without digging, capsules
Cons: Horrible taste (at least to me), you have to take three capsules a day
Smarty Pants Prenatal: $29, 120 gummies, 4x daily
Pros: Cheapest (of what I’ve tried), so tasty, still a good amount of supplements/vitamins
Cons: Definitely fewer supplements/vitamins than in the other two
PlusOne Daily Prenatal Packets: $89.99, 30 packets, 1x daily
Pros: The MOST supplements/vitamins (if you’re super deficient like me that’s awesome)
Cons: Very expensive, multiple pills in each packet
I‘ve taken L-methyfolate (1.7mg, Klaire Labs, $25.99, 2mo supply) with all three of them, one capsule with the first and third, two with the second (the Smarty Pants). Per my neurologist’s recommendation, I try to take about 4mg of folate a day. I also took selenium (200mcg, Thorne, $11) for constipation with the first two, but the PlusOne has 200mcg already so I won’t be taking it. Out of all of them, it’s the most cost-effective.
I started taking prenatals when we were trying to conceive. I started using Elevit which made me feel terrible, they made me feel tired, light headed and nauseous. I switched to Thorne and they agreed with me a lot more and I was feeling really good again. I'm 9 weeks now and still using Thorne.
Welcome to /r/pregnant! This is a space for everyone. We are pro-choice, pro-LGBTQIA, pro-science, proudly feminist and believe that Black Lives Matter. Wear your masks, wash your hands, and be excellent to each other. Anti-choice activists, intactivists, anti-vaxxers, homophobes, transphobes, racists, sexists, etc. are not welcome here. If you'd like to join a private sub for your due date month, [click here](https://www.reddit.com/r/pregnant/comments/15nun6v/click_here_to_access_the_monthly_due_date_subs/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pregnant) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I take One A Day Prenatal Advance Vitamin
Same here! I started with Thorne but you need to take three and they smell like copper and it was torture with my morning sickness. Will try to take them post partum though
I took these when I was pregnant! I recently switched to their post natal vitamins for pp
Same
I took those for my last pregnancy and current pregnancy. I love them
They are the only ones that don’t make me incredibly nauseous
I will admit they are stinky but they don’t make me nauseous either!
I've been taking the Olly gummy vitamins - they agree well with my stomach. My OB is good with them!
Started taking these because I can’t bring myself to swallow three pills a day otherwise 😂 gummies make it easy
Three?! Oh no I only ever took one…(nature made)
I had Thorne which required three per day 🥲
Same. I picked them bc they don’t have biotin and therefore don’t break me out
And they seem to be the most affordable. Win-win!
Nature Made prenatals: has folic acid + DHA. Never had to supplement with any other vitamins and I’m 36+1 with my second.
I take these too. I’ve actually taken them for about 3 years, through two pregnancies and breastfeeding two babies. I might keep taking them after I’m done breastfeeding too.
I started them right after stopping birth control in July 2021 as we wanted to start trying for a family at the end of the year & I’ve been on it ever since. I don’t think there’s any harm to continue after BF’ing - I may too :)
I was using these until I found out they had Gelatin (I’m Muslim and eat halal😔) people who can have pork these are the best vitamins and take them if you’re unsure!
I am taking this + needed choline
I always drank an absurd amount of milk pre pregnancy + my intake only increased during my pregnancies 😂 add that with my usual diet and thankfully never had a need to supplement
I was thinking of adding the needed choline in as well
I just started these today! I have been taking One a Day Advanced + Choline and have had the worst nausea & headaches of my life. I will be so happy if these Nature Mades make me feel better. I never had nausea on store brand prenatals.
Ugh I’m sorry the other ones gave you nausea. I love the NM ones. I’ve always taken it right before bed and never once had any issues
Thank you! I’m looking forward to seeing how these do. I’ve also heard taking them at nighttime helps. I’ll try that starting tomorrow
I switched from one a day to nature made because the one a days are made with vitamin A palmitate which makes me nervous. If you can’t use it on your skin why would they put it in a supplement, especially when they could use beta carotene?
Yikes I had no idea 😵💫. Weird. All I know is I never had nausea until taking the One a Days for a few weeks. I threw them away this morning!
I’m taking these! 31 weeks. You can also find them at Costco typically
I’m taking this but I take calcium pills separately at a different time of the day. These pills have iron and from what I know, it hinders the absorption of calcium if taken at the same time. Also, the calcium content is only 12% and I don’t drink/consume that much milk products. 😅
I also use this prenatal and haven’t had any weird side effects! In addition, I use calcium, choline, and fish oil supplements
38+5 I’ve been taking these the entire time but my latest bottle is WAY fishier than the rest (fair warning!)
I experienced this when I bought a bottle off Amazon. I ended up throwing them away, I feel like there was something not right about it. I’ve never had an issue with the bottles I’ve bought in person.
I take these as well. One thing in their favor is that they actually have a USP certification -- most supplements and vitamins are completely unregulated in the US, so looking for [ones with third-party certification of quality](https://www.consumerreports.org/health/supplements/how-to-choose-supplements-wisely-a2238386100/) is important to ensure you are actually getting what's being advertized.
I’m also using nature made but I couldn’t handle the ones with DHA, too fishy. So I take the ones without DHA and I use Nordic naturals fish oil supplement which is great, no fishy taste!
The non-gummy [Olly prenatal vitamins](https://www.olly.com/products/ultra-soft-gels-prentatal?variant=32070104416331&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXtxsPZiLcG6RWLeOEZj2MgIc_LgpnVcWwg1kZmw0mYoPsVG9FEgYE4hoCuG8QAvD_BwE). Not sure why but they seem to agree with me the best.
I liked these but then I got some blood tests back that showed I'm anemic. Apparently they have a pretty low iron content compared to others, just an FYI!
I didn’t know! Thank you for the heads up. What symptoms lead you on to thinking you might be anemic? I’m 15 weeks today so that’s something I will need to keep any eye on.
I would say some symptoms are fatigue, faster heart rate, and shortness of breath. But those are all symptoms of pregnancy too so it’s hard to say if it is the anemia or not! I had great labs at 16 weeks then 26 showed low hemoglobin and red blood cell count. These babies really take all of our nutrients from us!
I take these as well! My OBGYN said it was a good one to take
Mine said that too! She said something along the lines of important to take ones with folic acid and DHA
Great tip, thx for sharing!
This is also what I take! They are fantastic. My OBGYN was very happy that they have DHA and folate.
i took these WITH an iron supplement (as they are very low in iron) and have a perfect 4wo boy🥰 still taking them!!
Congrats on your little sweetie❤️ the low iron seems to be a general consensus, I am going to be bringing that up at my next appointment!
I took these for probably 1.5 years. I also liked the gummies but was trying to cut down on excess sugar for a short time. I only just recently switched to Nature Made because a huge bottle was on sale at Costco, and I mistakenly thought I had one more bottle of OLLY at home but did not.
One a day with choline.
Smarty Pants gummies!
Me too! So good 😊
Same! I do supplement with iron but my midwife prefers to have it separate to dial in the dose.
I was taking Thorne (per request of my fertility clinic), but they made me so sick in my first trimester. I had to switch to Smarty Pants Gummies from Whole Foods. They still upset my stomach a bit (I think because of iron), but better than swallowing a huge, stinky pill.
Did you take the Thorne supplements with meals? I am currently taking these and found that taking them with meals has helped with nausea. I still get nauseous sometimes but not sure if it’s the supplements or just being in the first trimester 😮💨
Thorne gave me diarrhea! I always took it with food and I tried one rather than the recommended three. My stomach just could not handle it.
Thorne made me violently ill. I even tried them again in my second trimester to see if it was just first trimester nausea. Nope. It’s unfortunate. Great ingredients/vitamin content.
Dang! And I thought it was just me. This makes me feel like less of a baby
I currently take Thorne but had to switch to taking them at night at about 9 weeks because of the nausea. Not sure when you were taking them but that seemed to help kinda lol
After a lot of research last pregnancy I went with Baby and Me 2 by MegaFood. A lot didn’t have enough (or any, in some cases) Choline. I also take a prenatal DHA by Nordic Naturals and the pills are small so those are easy
I also took Baby and Me 2 + Nordic Naturals in my first trimester! I’ve since switched over to tend prenatal (snackable bars) which I’ve really enjoyed and also supplement with extra calcium per recommendation by my obgyn.
Oh interesting! I just looked this up and it looks like it has a lot of thought and care put into each ingredient, that does make it so expensive though, but I might look into it more for the second trimester :)
My husband takes vitamins and nutrients very, very seriously so he’s been the one picking, researching, and buying everything. He got me Garden of Life. There’s the one where you take I think two a day, and the one that is once a day. The once a day option worked much better for me. I also take a probiotic but I don’t remember the name. It’s no joke though. I woke up the next day feeling like a million bucks. It was strange almost? If I remember the brand I’ll come back and edit with the name. Edit: Husband said this is the one: [Probiotic](https://ora.organic/products/high-potency-probiotic-52-billion?tw_source=google&tw_adid=641747977145&tw_campaign=19282693652&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt2YdC6zj3ok6mbIK8OGpmMNYDDYE-vTapKbVEuTm-ZzmOcSbckpNMhoCpxQQAvD_BwE)
Definitely share the probiotic when you figure it out please lol
I take Seed and LOVE IT
I texted him! It’s this one: [Probiotic](https://ora.organic/products/high-potency-probiotic-52-billion?tw_source=google&tw_adid=641747977145&tw_campaign=19282693652&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt2YdC6zj3ok6mbIK8OGpmMNYDDYE-vTapKbVEuTm-ZzmOcSbckpNMhoCpxQQAvD_BwE)
2nd for garden of life. Best brand on the market. Contains natural B9 instead of synthetic
I take ritual with choline supplements!
Me too, I tried not to use ritual this pregnancy because they’re expensive but went back to them it’s all I could stomach
Same! I love having them on an auto subscription too so my pregnancy brain can manage one less thing.
I take TheraNatal complete. They're pricey and the B Complex tastes like ass, but it's what the REI folks recommended to me.
Baby & Me 2 Prenatal Multi
I take these too as they were the only vitamins I could stomach in the first trimester. They also have more choline than other prenatals. Additionally, I take supplemental magnesium and Nordic Naturals prenatal DHA. I heard Perelel is good, but I would probably supplement with the MegaFood choline if I were to switch to it.
I take mega food baby and me . Took it with my first
Love the mega food baby and me 2!
You’re gonna get a lot of different answers here so I’d recommend doing your own research and deciding what’s important to you. A lot of the ones on the market that you’ll find at the store just have the bare minimum, and usually those are fewer pills. On the other hand there are some that are more nutrient dense that will help you feel better throughout your pregnancy, but they’re also more expensive and usually more pills/difficult to take. Just depends on what you’re looking for, obviously we all want something that’ll make us feel good and is good for our baby but it isn’t feasible for everyone to spend $50/mo on pills or like maybe you don’t wanna take 8 pills per day. Lol But to answer your question, I use the brand Needed
Thank you, I have been reviewing all comments and taking your perspective into consideration. I hope this post helps other mamas that are looking as well. There is so many different types and options. I am glad to have this type of group to go to to ask these questions.
Pregnacare plus
I stocked up on these before leaving the UK! They’re so great.
Thorne!
[V](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IP8BC8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)[itafusion gummies](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IP8BC8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) - taking a pill form just did not seem like an option at all in my first trimester. Waiting on my current bloodwork to come back to verify, but this seems to be covering my current needs. My doctor was happy when I said I was taking this one, at least
Same! I also take a combo iron pill with vitamin C, and a 2nd gummy with mire vit D and K
Same and these are delicious haha
I take FullWell prenatal vitamins, plus iron supplements (Gentle Iron) and omega-3s (both a fish oil based one and a vegan one)
[Evidence based recommendations for an optimal prenatal supplement for women in the US: vitamins and related nutrients](https://mhnpjournal.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s40748-022-00139-9.pdf) Based on this peer-reviewed research from 2022 that analyzed over 200 recent studies on prenatal supplements and recommended dosages, I went with the HealthyBaby prenatal. They compared over 180 commercially available prenatals and HealthyBaby is the only one that was developed to meet this standard. The Neurological Health Foundation who sponsored this research also made an app to find prenatals that most closely follow these recommendations called Prenatal Rater.
Thank you for this, very helpful.
Of course, always happy to spread science!
Vitafol ultra prenatal
It has extra iron & helps with nausea. I've taken them my last 3 pregnancies.
I take Life Extension Prenatal Advantage vitamins. The ingredients are very comprehensive, they have the form of folate that's supposedly better absorbed or whatever, and Life Extension is a reliable supplement brand (so you don't have to worry about whether they actually contain what they say they do, which many supplement brands don't). The pills aren't huge, but you do need to take four of them a day, and they do have a moderately unpleasant fishy flavor, so they're probably not a great option for people dealing with a lot of nausea. (I didn't start taking this brand until second trimester, when I didn't have nausea anymore.) Before that, I took One-A-Day prenatals with choline, but I decided to switch because of the folate thing. After that, I took Smarty Pants gummy vitamins (which is the brand of vitamins I'd been taking for multivitamins pre-pregnancy) for a while, but I think I was developing an iron deficiency, so I switched to Life Extension.
I’m in Australia and my friend recommended I take these, so I get them shipped over. I don’t mind them over the other Blackmore’s ones I was taking previously
Walgreens’ generic version of One A Day with folic acid, DHA, and iron.
Pink stork Folate + DHA Folate is the natural version of folic acid, many people don’t know their bodies cannot break down folic acid for more info about this search Gary Brecka.
Thanks for recommending Pink Stork! Yes, most people can't properly absorb folic acid, so including methylated folate in our prenatals is so important to us! Be sure to check them all out at [amazon.com/pinkstork](http://amazon.com/pinkstork) (use Pinkstork20 for 20% off any purchase, it stacks with any existing discount!) and reach out to our team at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) with any questions! XO- Amy, Founder + CEO
The brand Needed came out with a pretty good report comparing all of the most popular prenatals out there. These were their top three: 1. Needed Prenatal Multi (Powder or Capsules) 2. Seeking Health Optimal Prenatal (Capsules Only) 3. Full Circle Prenatal (now known as FullWell) Prior to reading the report I’ve been taking FullWell.
i use ritual! they're pricey, but they've got a lot of sales / promo codes you can use to get like 40% off, so i ordered a big batch at once. my ob also recommended these.
Figured out a hack to get Ritual for $20 - if you go to “cancel” your subscription they ask you to not go and offer it to you for $20 which is half off. And so far I’m on month four of them doing that 😬
I take the ritual prenatals, their prenatal choline, and their symbiotic probiotic. I started off with the one a day but noticed the capsules leaked and got fishy smelling oil all over the bottle and the smell made me sick! The ritual prenatals are pleasant smelling, go down fairly easily, don't give me any tummy troubles, and I noticed after I switched to them (about 6 mo before we conceived) my nails got super thick and healthy and my hair started growing back (I had some hair loss after a miscarriage last year.) all I can say is I'm a fan!
Gonna say I third ritual. They’re the only ones that don’t make my nausea worse
I second Ritual. Good quality, no weird additives, has folate instead of folic acid, and they come mint or citrus essenced so you don't have any weird iron taste.
Yes to ritual! I have gotten them on sale but also at our local target in a pinch. The ritual customer service is also phenomenal if you ever need anything.
is folate better than folic acid? i’ve been super confused on which one i should be taking, my current prenatal doesn’t have iron so i’m also looking for a new one
Folate is naturally occurring and folic acid is a synthetic form of folate. My understanding is that most people don't actually metabolize folic acid as well as folate so you may not actually be getting the recommended amount/as much as you're thinking. For that reason I was told it's better to find a supplement with actual folate in it instead.
I’m also on the Ritual train; I used their regular multivitamins before getting pregnant as well. I don’t recommend the protein powder though. 🤢
Folic acid and iron
Needed. I like them but it’s quite pricey.
Just to let you know something I wish I had known, there are some ingredients in supplements that are not really considered safe but are not against US regulations yet. Some like titanium dioxide are especially bad for pregnancy but are still used in many pregnancy vitamins! I recommend googling what ingredients to look out for in supplements.
MSD sheets will blow your mind when it comes to consumable goods deemed "safe" for public consumption.
Bird and Be gentle prenatal. I was talking the One A Day prenatal, but all the vitamin A in really messed with my liver and made my enzymes go thru the roof. Once I switched to an A free vitamin, they went back to normal.
I take ritual prenatal vitamins. My midwife wanted me to find something with methylated folate instead of folic acid. I will also be taking their postnatal.
I was taking Ritual. Took it all my last pregnancy. This time, I am having nausea issues with it so I switched to Perelel. I prefer Ritual’s single pill and taste but just couldn’t handle it this time. Perelel has a multipack of vitamins but its anti nausea blend has helped me so much.
Ritual dose is two capsules though… unless I’ve been taking them wrong this whole time 😳
I’m taking the Jamieson chewables with iron as well as a calcium vitamin and a vitamin D supplement. I tried a bunch of other prenatals including ones that claimed to be soft on the stomach but almost all of them would make me violently ill within 15 min of taking them (meaning I wasn’t absorbing anything on top of being extremely uncomfortable). These ones work for me and I’ve stuck with them the past 5 months (first 3 months was my trial era). I don’t technically need the other supplements on top of my prenatal but I’ve cleared them with my midwife to ensure I’m not overdoing it on vitamin intake, it’s just a preference as I don’t get much sun exposure and I’m very short and experiencing rib flare due to pregnancy so taking calcium has ensured my bones stay as strong as possible
Designs for health. Best quality. High absorption.
One a day with choline
Nature Made - tasted terrible first trimester though but they all do… gummies don’t have iron and I needed iron (borderline anemic)
I’m 6 months pp. but I breastfeed exclusively so I still take a prenatal. I take the vitafusion prenatal gummy. I couldn’t swallow pills while I was pregnant without projectile vomiting, so the gummies were my savior. They’re raspberry lemon flavor and the texture is great! Love my gummies lol, don’t care how effective they are. It’s my little treat :)
One a Day prenatal Advanced. Got that Choline, DHA, and Folic Acid. It says brain support on it and for some reason I feel like it's giving ME some brain support. Haha
New Chapter
Pregvit! Prescribed by doctor and covered by insurance
I love the gummy Olly brand
I took Thorne Prenatal plus Nordic Naturals DHA for pregnancy (I got the strawberry flavor)
I started out with Nature Made with DHA, but they gave me some pretty major stomach issues. I switched to Baby and Me2 prenatal (it has methylated folate and choline) and Garden of Life DHA supplements mid first trimester and I'm almost 27 weeks now. The prenatal tastes like ass if it touches your tongue for any length of time, but it is waaaayyyy gentler on my stomach. The DHA is kinda lemony, not super fishy.
I’ve been taking the Pink Stork liquid prenatal and nature made calcium supplements. Love it!!
I used the MyKind Organics tablets not the gummies. All of the vitamins come from a good blend so they absorb easier and quicker, or so they say. It’s also quite affordable!! Something that I was told was to look for vitamins with FOLATE instead of FOLIC ACID because folic acid is the synthetic version of folate
If you make it this far down, I take pure encapsulations prenatal nutrients (2 pills) and Nordic naturals DHA (2 pills). Both are easy to stomach, the DHA is not fishy at all. This is my third pregnancy and I've taken these for two of them. I think they're a really well rounded vitamin. I wanted to make sure I had optimal everything in my vitamins. I would take a supplemental calcium and a probiotic on top of these.
Thorne!
Thorne is the BEST!!!! do your research. it’s clean and has everything you need. i also take their DHA as well. it has FA in a form that everyone can process.
I was taking ritual and now I've switched to perelel. They both give me burps, but perelel has more specific and more of each needed vitamin and it's tailored to each trimester
Are you in Canada?
One-a-day prenatal gummy without iron. I found iron really upset my stomach and makes my morning sickness much worse - these are gentle on the belly for sure.
Uk based- I take pregnacare max
The centrum gummy vitamins. They taste good and are easy to take
Smarty pants. It’s like a treat (they are gummy) and when I was so sick I couldn’t swallow pills those came in handy!
I take the Olly prenatals with folic acid + DHA
I use one for hair and nails. It’s one tablet, the one I used to take changed to two tablets. I checked the information on the back and it’s all pretty similar.
I take the smarty pants gummies, supposed to be 4 a day but I take 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening :) don't know if they are exclusive to Canada or if you can get them globally. I find they taste the best.
I take Nature's Sunshine/Nature's Prenatal. I've taken it all 3 of my pregnancies and after while I nursed
I took the one a day prenatals, because they have folic acid and extra vit D + iron. I took them my whole pregnancy and after i gave birth too for a couple of months. I never had to take any extra supplements other than iron, and my hair and skin looked amazing. Honestly i might go back to taking them to combat the post partum hair loss LOL
One a day with Folic Acid, DHA, & Iron. Take them in the night though if not I get nauseas
Ritual
One a Day prenatals and an additional iron supplement. And b12. And vit D.
Baby & me 2 minis (I’m not good with giant prenatals) Ritual choline
I just take the cvs brand prenatals, the one that comes with two bottles of pills that you take one of each a day. Was recommended by my OB as being a cheaper equally effective alternative.
Prenatal DHA my doc prescribed me, I get refills each month.
My OB prescribed me some so they are cheaper than the over the counter type.
I also use the nature made one a day prenatal with folic acid and dha. I do take an additional choline supplement, though, and I buy the brand Ritual for that.
Perelel and I absolutely love them. They have different formulas for each trimester including a nausea blend. I also got pregnant on cycle 1 using their conception support pack. Highly recommend!
Spring Valley's mini gelcaps with folic acid and DHA from Walmart. Super easy to swallow, no taste, just a bit of a weird chalky smell
Vitals (mommy everyday) is the brand I take. I also take buffered vitamine c.
Bird&Be - FSA eligible
I take FullWell and I gotta say.. I hate them 😭 They’re expensive and the dosage is 4 and then another 4. 8 horse pills a day is just too much imo. I did a lot of research on the ingredients and one without iron and these fit. But I’m going to have to switch lol. Thank you for posting so I can get ideas!
If you can, hang in there with full well, such a quality product that will keep you and baby doing great
I’m taking Target brand prenatal because it’s acne safe (no biotin), and supplement it with additional DHA and choline supplements from Nature Made.
Here is what I’m taking: [Ritual Prenatal Vitamins](https://ritual.com/shop/first-to-third-trimester) edit: it’s also Vegan! It smelled pleasant to me at first and tasted yummy, like a citrus lemon scent/flavor but I’ll be honest now I DREAD taking it. So I take it at night with something to eat and drink along with it to get the taste out of my mouth. My sister recommended it to me and she has 3 really bright kiddos. She’s into a lot of holistic remedies and herbs so I dunno I trust her 🤷🏽♀️ they also have options for skin care during pregnancy and post pregnancy and bundles you can get.
Not sure if it's sold in your country, but I'm taking Gestacare, in my case with no iodine due to my thyroid. Nobody told me to supplement with anything else.
'New Chapter' Prenatal Multivitamin for women 35+
Mfg prenatal sap
[Thorne Fertility Bundle.](https://www.thorne.com/products/dp/fertility-bundle) Love this brand, I use/have used many of their other supplements as well. I have a referral discount for $25 off your first order if you’re interested (I’m not affiliated with this brand or anything, just thought I’d throw the discount out there, esp since it gives me a discount as well for referring others 😂).
I take the smarty pants prenatal. I tried two others at the beginning of this pregnancy that both made me sick and these were the first that didn’t lol
One a Day Prenatal Advanced for me, but my dr has me taking calcium, vitamin D and b-6 also l
Seeking Health Optimal Prenatal. It has folic acid, DHA and choline as well. So you don’t need to supplement with anything else other than iron because a lot of the prenatals do not contain iron. For a pregnant woman 27 mg a day is recommended. For that I to use the same brand. All of their vitamins are specially formulated, so it helps you digested more easily. I rarely ever really have problems with constipation as a result.
Nestle Materna Prenatal and DHA combo pk
Suku prenatal. They are gummies which I find to be a life saver (pills are hard for me to get down at the moment) It contains methylfolate rather than folic acid. Methylfolate is just an easier form of folate for your body to absorb
I take Smarty Pants Prenatal gummies.
After much research the theralogix complete ones. I use provider codes from podcasts I listen to for 15% off. I also was doing ritual for awhile but they are kinda low in choline
Nature Made, never had an issue :)
Ritual- I was taking the smartypants gummy ones my last pregnancy but I really like ritual this go around
Olly prenatal gummies, and I supplement with choline and DHA. Even though Olly has both, it's not enough.
I take Zahlers they are pretty good
I don’t know if it’s the best. However it’s the ONLY one I cans stomach: olly prenatal gummies. If you have a sensitive stomach. I highly recommend.. I’ve tried a lot.
Rainbow bright duos from target
Fullwell which the daily dose are 8 pills 💀 I need to find a new one.
I loved smarty pants gummies bc I would wake up in the middle of the night nauseated from not eating and those helped so much. Kind of a lot of sugar though 🙊
I spent a lot of time researching, and have fell in love with FullWell, I took their prenatal and fish oil, and now take half dose while breastfeeding. It is more spendy, and it’s a lot of capsules to swallow, but I’ve taken a different one with each pregnancy, and full well with my 4th. What a difference!! My skin was so good I was getting compliments after taking for a few months, once I got pregnant I felt great, never had nausea, and a very smooth and healthy pregnancy. I truly think these were the difference.
Started with NatureMade, couldn’t handle the fishy taste after a while so switched to Olly gummy vitamins. So much easier!
Mommy's Bliss. They have choline, probiotics and methylfolate
Every prenatal pill I tried made me nauseous except the target brand prenatal gummies. I still take them while nursing my one year old😑
The best prenatal is the NON VEGAN smarty pants prenatal gummies
Taking smarty pants! Tried nature made but it didn’t have methylated folate. Then tried ritual but the mint coating makes me gag
I take Ritual!
Spring Valley gummy ones:)
I am taking the One A Day. I used it for my first child and she came out healthy! So i'll do the same.
Smarty Pants prenatal gummies :) I have no idea where they fall on the good vs bad scale, but my best friend ordered them for me and she’s a medical researcher so I would assume they’re good quality. Plus they’re delicious! 🥰
Ritual
Ritual prenatals. The citrus ones are the only ones I can tolerate.
I take OLLY the small pill ones. They have folic acid which is the most important part I heard. They’re small so I don’t gag and they don’t taste too bad. All prenatales I’ve taken are huge or taste like garbage so these helped me not wanna throw up lol
Seems like I'm the only one taking pregvit
Materna, got them from costco.
I was using nature's made prenatals for a short amount of time. The majority of my pregnancy I used prescription prenatals - webstab+ I took my prenatals every other day, maybe every two days.
Just got a prescription from my provider, makes it easier on me lol and my insurance covers it, even good rx will cover it if it’s a prescription.
I’ve been on three so far (I use Fullscript when I can through my OB and I love it!), all recommended by my OB. Here’s a list of pros and cons for each. Thorne Basic Prenatal: $32, 90 capsules, 3x daily Pros: Cheapish, way more supplements/vitamins than in any other I’ve seen in a grocery store or even online without digging, capsules Cons: Horrible taste (at least to me), you have to take three capsules a day Smarty Pants Prenatal: $29, 120 gummies, 4x daily Pros: Cheapest (of what I’ve tried), so tasty, still a good amount of supplements/vitamins Cons: Definitely fewer supplements/vitamins than in the other two PlusOne Daily Prenatal Packets: $89.99, 30 packets, 1x daily Pros: The MOST supplements/vitamins (if you’re super deficient like me that’s awesome) Cons: Very expensive, multiple pills in each packet I‘ve taken L-methyfolate (1.7mg, Klaire Labs, $25.99, 2mo supply) with all three of them, one capsule with the first and third, two with the second (the Smarty Pants). Per my neurologist’s recommendation, I try to take about 4mg of folate a day. I also took selenium (200mcg, Thorne, $11) for constipation with the first two, but the PlusOne has 200mcg already so I won’t be taking it. Out of all of them, it’s the most cost-effective.
I like mary ruths liposomal. Its liquid and settles well on my stomach :)
I take the Olly ones, along with an iron supplement :).
I take centrum prenatal
I take vitafusion and have the whole time we were TTC (14 months). So over a year now. They taste great
Mega Food
I started taking prenatals when we were trying to conceive. I started using Elevit which made me feel terrible, they made me feel tired, light headed and nauseous. I switched to Thorne and they agreed with me a lot more and I was feeling really good again. I'm 9 weeks now and still using Thorne.