Health Care Professionals agree that a regimen of prenatal vitamins should be part of your pre-conception planning plans in order to build the stores of nutrients you require for a healthy pregnancy.

Don’t fret if you’re in a later stage of pregnancy. If you follow a diet that consists of plenty of vegetables, fruits, and dairy products, there is a good chance that you are at least on a healthy tract to prepare you and your baby for a health delivery.

If your pregnancy is unplanned or if you are already pregnant and just discovering the importance of prenatal vitamins, you can still benefit from taking prenatal vitamins. Whichever stage you’re in of your pregnancy, you should be a discriminating consumer when selecting these supplements since not all prenatal vitamins are created equally. Synthetic or Natural? These are the choices that you will have to consider when searching for the perfect nutritional formula for you and baby.

Synthetic Vitamins

The lure to synthetic supplements is simple. These supplements are typically inexpensive and easily accessible (they are prevalent at most discount stores as well as local markets). The inexpensive price is directly related to the fact that synthetic vitamins are chemical compounds. Simply put, chemicals are cheap and easy to make.

A deep consideration with regards to synthetic prenatal vitamins is that they are not a natural and complete whole food. In the late 1990s, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted a study to determine whether synthetic or natural prenatal vitamins with vitamin E were better for expectant mothers. The study revealed that mothers who were given natural prenatal vitamins had two times as much vitamin E in their bloodstream when they delivered their babies. Imagine taking a prenatal vitamin throughout your pregnancy to protect you and your baby and then discovering that it did not give you the protection it promised. This is a risk that no expectant mother should take.

Probably the most important reason to avoid synthetic prenatal vitamins is their composition. These manufactured chemicals attempt to imitate the composition of vitamins made with whole foods, but often fall short. This is a negative aspect because it is uncertain how the body will react to the chemicals. It may take the body a significant amount of time to assimilate synthetic compounds or the body may not be able to break the compounds down efficiently enough to offer the body any benefits. In either case, you are taking a chance on what you get and may end up essentially throwing away your money. No studies to date have examined the effects of synthetic vitamins on the developing fetus.

Natural Vitamins

Nutritionists recommend that everyone receive more than half of their nutrients from whole or raw foods. These are foods that have not undergone significant processing, but instead exist in their natural state. Nutritional supplements that are made of whole foods are your best bet when shopping for prenatal multivitamins.

The really good news about natural vitamins is that you can be confident that you are getting what you pay for. Since these are nutrients in their natural state, the body easily recognizes their structure and quickly absorbs them for natural assimilation. Purity is definitely something you want when you take prenatal vitamins. As always, when pregnant or lactating, it is best to check with your doctor before introducing anything new to and your baby.