If you can eat a diet that’s a well-balanced variety of unprocessed or minimally processed foods every day you don’t need to take a prenatal vitamin supplement at all. But not everyone had access to nutritious food on a daily basis, which is why it’s worth considering taking vitamin for nutritional insurance. And even if you do take a prenatal vitamin, you should still try to get most of nutrition from your food, because your body absorbs nutrients from foods more efficiently than from pills, and also needs macronutrients (like protein, fiber and carbohydrates) and lesser-known nutrients rarely found in vitamin supplements. Most prenatals don’t contain much calcium, for instance, because it can inhibit the absorption of other nutrients.
If your prenatal is making you nauseated to the point of not being able to eat and/or digest a balanced diet, you may want to first try a different vitamin—sometimes two childrens’ chewables with iron, taken twice a day, are plenty. Vitamins also now come in the form of gummy candy, drink powder and even chocolate chews.
For reference, here’s a chart of the recommended daily allowances (RDAs) of macronutrients, vitamins and minerals:
| Nutrient | RDA/Upper Limit |
|---|---|
| Carbohydrates | 160‒406 grams |
| Fiber | 28 grams, 29 while breastfeeding |
| Protein | About 60‒100 grams per day, plus 25 more if you’re expecting multiples |
| Water | About 3 liters |
| Calcium | 1,000‒1,200 mg (1-1.2 g), no more than 2,500 mg |
| Choline | 450 mg, 550 mg while breastfeeding, no more than 3,500 mg (3.5 g) per day. |
| Chromium | 29‒30 mcg during pregnancy, 44‒45 while breastfeeding, no more than 1.6 mg per day |
| Copper | 1,000 mcg, 1,300 while breastfeeding (1 – 1.3 mg) |
| Fluoride | 3.0 mg, no more than 10 mg per day |
| Iodine | 220 mcg, no more than 1,100 mcg per day |
| Iron | 27-30 mg, no more than 45 mg per day |
| Manganese | 2.6 mg, no more than 11 mg per day |
| Magnesium | 360-400 mg, no more than 350 mg per day from supplements |
| Omega-3 fatty acids (ALA, EPA, DHA) | 300‒1,000 mg, no more than 3,000 grams per day |
| Pantothenic Acid | 6 mg no determined upper limit |
| Selenium | 65 mcg, no more than 400 mg per day |
| Vitamin A | 770 mcg during pregnancy, 1,300 mcg while breastfeeding, no more than 8,000 mcg (2,500 IU) per day (try to get most vitamin A in the form of beta carotene) |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) | 1.4 mg, no determined upper limit |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 1.6 mg, no determined upper limit |
| Niacin (B3) | 18 mg, no more than 35 mg per day |
| Vitamin B6 | 2.2 mg, no more than 100 mg per day |
| Vitamin B7 (Biotin) | 30 mcg, 35 mcg while breastfeeding, no determined upper limit |
| Vitamin B9 (aka Folic Acid) | 600 mcg – 1,000‒5,000 for women who have had a fetus or infant with a neural tube defect. |
| Vitamin B12 | 2.2 mcg, no determined upper limit |
| Vitamin C | 60‒300 mg, no more than 2,000 mg per day |
| Vitamin D | 5 mcg (200 IU), no more than 2,000 IU per day |
| Vitamin E | 15 mg (22.5 IU), no more than 1,000 mg (1 g) per day |
| Vitamin K | 65‒90 mcg, depending on age, no determined upper limit |
| Zinc | 8‒13 mg, no more than 40 mg per day |
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