Prenatal Vitamins Versus Over the counter Drugs Which Works Better

f you are planning to conceive or are already on the family way, taking prenatal vitamins is a must. Prenatal vitamins provide important minerals and nutrients that help support a healthy pregnancy. There are several prenatal vitamins being sold in the market today some can be bought over-the-counter and there are those that are specifically prescribed by your healthcare provider. Is there a difference between the two? In this article, we will show the basic difference between prescription and over-the-counter prenatal vitamins and why prescription does matter. The biggest difference between over-the-counter drugs and prescription prenatal vitamins is the amount of folic acid they contain. Many prescription prenatal vitamins contain 1.0 mg folic acid (1000 mcg) while many over-the-counter prenatal vitamins contain less or approximately 800 mcg of folic acid. Folic acid is especially important during the first three months ofpregnancy because it helps your body produce healthy blood cells. It also helps prevent brain and spinal or neural tube defects. What are neural tube defects, you may ask. Neural tube defects typically occur during the first few weeks of pregnancy, which means expectant moms need to get enough folic acid every day. According to the Institute of Medicine, the recommended daily allowance or RDA of folic acid during pregnancy is 0.6 mg with an upper intake of 1.0 mg per day. In an informal comparison of four over-the-counter prenatal vitamins and nine prescription supplements reveals that the over-the-counter vitamins, though considerably higher in almost all the micronutrient levels, were usually lower in iron and folic acid. In this case alone, one can argue that prescription supplements really do outweigh over-the-counter prenatal vitamins.