In this video, IntimateRose.com's Dr. Amanda Olson, certified pelvic floor rehabilitation therapist, discusses the importance of prenatal vitamins, both in order to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. First and foremost, the American diet is often insufficient when it comes to providing you the key organic nutrients and minerals that you need if you're planning to become pregnant or if you already are pregnant. These nutrients and minerals are integral for healthy brain and spinal cord development of babies, These ingredients, which include iron and folate, are often hard for the human body to absorb in the diet, with folate being particularly difficult; 20 to 40 percent of women, including Dr. Olson herself, are genetically incapable of absorbing folate, and that means she made it a point to take a prenatal vitamin that included methylfolate, a form of folate that, unlike folic acid, was capable of being absorbed by her body!
Another important reason to take a prenatal vitamin is during the very first few weeks of your pregnancy. Many women experience nausea and vomiting during this period, which means you might not be getting the best nutrition even if you have a healthy diet. Including a supplement in your diet that's certified by the FDA or the American College of Gynecologists (ACOG). Supplements that do so will have this noted on their labeling. It's also beneficial to look for something that helps with that nausea, such as Intimate Rose's own prenatal vitamin that's made with ginger and red raspberry leaf as well as containing methylfolate, the more bioavailable form of folate that developing babies need.
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