Essential Nutrients in Pregnancy & Postpartum

When you're pregnant or breastfeeding, your body needs more nutrients to maintain your good health and help your baby grow strong and healthy.¹ While eating a healthy diet is a great foundation, it may be difficult to get all the nutrition you need from food alone. That’s why most doctors recommend taking a daily pre or postnatal vitamin. Experts like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)² and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)³ have set daily guidelines for the vitamins and minerals that are most important during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. These recommendations include the nutrients you get from both your food and any supplements you take.⁴

Some nutrients can be hard to get enough of from food alone. These include:

• Iron⁵ – Your body needs almost twice as much iron when you're pregnant. Iron helps make extra blood to carry oxygen to your baby. If you don’t get enough, you might feel very tired or short of breath. Low iron levels can also lead to anemia, which may cause more serious health issues.

• Folate (also called folic acid)⁶ – This helps prevent birth defects in your baby’s brain and spine. It’s found in leafy greens and enriched grains, but many women don’t get enough through food alone.

• Vitamin D⁷ – This supports bone health for both you and your baby. A lot of people don’t get enough vitamin D, especially if they don’t get much sunlight or eat vitamin D-rich foods like fatty fish or fortified dairy.

• Iodine and Choline – These help with your baby’s brain development. But they aren’t found in large amounts in many everyday foods.

A prenatal vitamin helps fill in these gaps and makes sure you’re getting the right amount of key nutrients, especially on busy days when you don’t eat as well as you’d like. Below is a list of the most important nutrients, and the volumes to strive for each day, during pregnancy and after your baby’s birth.