Common Myths About Prenatal Vitamins Prenatal vitamins are a hot topic these days. Everyone is…

Common Myths About Prenatal Vitamins

Prenatal vitamins are a hot topic these days. Everyone is touting the benefits of using them prior to getting pregnant to help prevent certain birth defects and continuing them during pregnancy and breastfeeding for continued protection from nutrition deficiencies. However, despite all of the attention these little pills get there are a lot of fallacies as well.

Myth: Taking prenatal vitamins will be adequate no matter what your diet is like.

Reality: This is false because the goal of prenatal vitamins is to supplement your diet not to replace it. In fact, prenatal vitamins work better when you are eating a healthy diet that includes a variety of foods. There are also known deficiencies in prenatal vitamins, for example calcium. The levels of calcium in the average prenatal vitamin is 250 mg. A pregnant woman needs about 1,200 - 1,500 mg of calcium daily to help her and the baby adequately grow.