Essential Pregnancy Supplements

Taking nutritional pills before you even start planning your pregnancy is a good way to keep your health and the health of your baby in good shape. The Health Ministry has put together a list of suggested vitamins and nutritional products that can help your body get ready for pregnancy, while you are pregnant, and after giving birth. This will make things easier for you. You will learn what supplements you need, why they are important, how much you should take, and how to get them naturally from food.

It is important to keep in mind that all of these suggestions are for healthy women who are not missing any other nutrients. In any case, you should talk to your doctor or a nutritionist if you need to. Most of the nutrients talked about here are in a multivitamin that is sold to pregnant women.

Nutritional supplements are, of course, in addition to the recommended diet during pregnancy.

Iodine

It is suggested that you start taking an iodine supplement about a month before you try to get pregnant. You should also keep taking it while you are pregnant and while you are nursing. Iodine is important for the thyroid to work right, especially before, during, and after pregnancy. It is also important for the brain growth of the fetus and newborn. Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of cognitive developmental problems. It can also cause the thyroid to not work properly, the goiter to form, and growth to stop.

You can get extra iodine with a prescription or over-the-counter dietary pills. Each tablet can have between 75 and 220 micrograms of iodine.

• Iodine can be found in seaweed, seafood, dairy products (especially milk), eggs, and iodized salt.
• The recommended daily amount is 150 to 250 micrograms.

Important: even a mild lack of iodine during pregnancy, as a baby, or as a child can damage the brain and nervous system in a way that cannot be fixed. This can hurt children's mental abilities in the short and long run.

Learn more about iodine (Hebrew)

Vitamin D

People in general and pregnant women in particular do not get enough vitamin D, so it is important to take a vitamin D pill. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that the body makes when it is exposed to UV light from the sun. Vitamin D is more important during pregnancy because it helps the body absorb calcium through the intestines, keeps calcium and phosphate levels in check, and makes sure bones have the right amount of minerals. Additionally, vitamin D is needed for bone growth and strength, stops breaks and rickets, and is an important part of the immune system, muscles, and fighting diseases. Vitamin D also helps control genes, and a lack of it has been linked to a metabolic syndrome. More and more evidence is showing that a lack of vitamin D can have other effects as well.

• Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines are good food sources of vitamin D. Red meat and egg yolks also have small amounts of vitamin D.
• Foods that have had vitamin D added to them: dairy products enriched with vitamin D, for instance, are a good and nearly exclusive source of the vitamin.
• Recommended dose: 200–400 international units, which is about 5–10 micrograms, while you are pregnant or nursing.

Folic Acid

Folic acid is a type of vitamin B. It is necessary for making DNA, for normal fetal development, for lowering the chance of neural tube defects, and for keeping pregnant women from getting anemia. Folic acid should be taken before getting pregnant and during the first three months of pregnancy. Along with folic acid supplements, it is best to eat foods that are high in natural folate, like green leafy veggies, citrus fruits, and legumes.

• Noteworthy: folic acid supplements are also important because the natural folate in food does not give you the amount you need for pre-pregnancy and pregnancy.
• Recommended dose: 400 micrograms a day. If you have pre-gestational diabetes, are taking anti-epileptic drugs, or are having trouble absorption, you may need a bigger dose.

Learn more about folic acid

Iron

With more blood flowing through the body, pregnant women need more iron than normal to meet their own needs and the needs of the growing baby. Anemia, which is caused by not getting enough iron, can cause tiredness, weakness, headaches, shortness of breath, and a fast heartbeat. During pregnancy, the fetus also accumulates iron, which will benefit the newborn during the first few months of life.

• From the end of the third month of pregnancy until 6 weeks after giving birth, women should take an iron supplement.
• 30 milligrams a day is the recommended dose. 60–120 milligrams should be taken as directed by a doctor if you have anemia.
• You can take a vitamin that has both iron and folic acid in it.
• Foods that are high in iron: you should eat foods that are high in iron from both plant and animal sources in addition to taking an iron supplement.
• Animal sources: turkey, especially dark turkey meat, and lean beef.
• Some plant-based sources of iron are legumes (e.g. beans, lentils, fava beans), buckwheat, quinoa, dried fruits, tahini, almonds, nuts, seeds (recommended to buy pre-packaged, not loose), iron-fortified foods like unsweetened cereals.

Further recommendations

• The Israeli Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends consuming one multivitamin pill per day and 1,000 milligrams of calcium per day.
• It is not advisable to consume milk and dairy products in combination with coffee and tea, as they interfere with iron absorption from the food supplements and food.
• Vitamin C assists in the absorption of iron; therefore, it is advisable to consume iron supplements with vitamin C-rich foods such as citrus fruits, tomato, pepper, kiwi, melon, and cabbage. There are iron supplements that are not affected by vitamin C.