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Why Prenatal Gummies Are Not The Best Choice Long Term

Pregnancy can present a few challenges with taking vitamins. You might have been an expert pill taker in the day, but taking your prenatal vitamins might be less desirable now for some of the following reasons: swallowing those horse-size pills (that may or may not get stuck in your throat), the unpleasant smell of a fishy DHA or the increase of nausea if you take them on an empty stomach. I've heard that iron contributes to nausea and vomiting. 

So maybe you've seen the prenatal Gummy vitamins and thought I've found the answer to my problems. You're thinking of a sweet gummy, I don't have to swallow. That doesn't make me feel sick. This will do the trick. Not so fast! They are good but for short-term use. 

I will tell you of a possible scenario that can happen when you substitute a gummy prenatal vitamin in place of a regular prenatal for long-term use: anemia, a deficiency in iron. Below is my story of how I discovered this firsthand.

First pregnancy. Morning sickness. Nausea and vomiting. Morning. Afternoon. Night. Any time of day. Any food, drink. Even water...Yikes! I was prescribed a prescription to help with nausea and vomiting. I threw up after taking those. After taking Tylenol too. So my obstetrician said you're eight or so weeks, stop taking your prenatal, the iron in them is making you sick. You should be fine for a few weeks until you stop vomiting and can take them again. I was paranoid about having a child with a birth defect, so I found the prenatal gummies that had no iron and thought this is great. It has my folic acid and most of what is in my regular prenatal vitamin. 

I took the gummy prenatal vitamins long-term because I didn't stop throwing up until 15-16 weeks of pregnancy. I got a blood test during my second trimester that showed that I was becoming slightly anemic and my obstetrician said I needed to go back to my regular prenatal vitamins because I needed iron.  

The reason a deficiency was discovered is that I mentioned in passing to my obstetrician that I had noticed an unusual change in my behavior. I was craving ice. I have sensitive teeth and usually prefer room-temperature drinks or cool drinks without ice. My behavior was abnormal for me and excessive. I began driving through snow cone stands for snow cones without the syrup, every single day for a few weeks. At first, I thought it was because of the summertime heat and almost didn't mention it. 

Last Edited: June 20, 2023

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