Prenatal Vitamins

Best multivitamin for pregnant and lactating women

Pregnant and lactating women need more from their multivitamin, including increased folic acid and a slightly higher percentage of vitamin A in the safer form of beta-carotene to prevent birth defects. Pregnant or breastfeeding women also want their multi to be as safe and free from toxins as possible. When the FDA tested 324 multivitamins for lead, it found several prenatal multivitamins contain larger amounts. None of the vitamins tested exceeds the PTTI of lead -- 25 mcg per day -- for pregnant or breastfeeding women. Still, Sound Formula's After Baby Boost 1 (*Est. $50 for 120 tablets) contains an estimated daily exposure of 8.97 mcg, and A to Z Naturals Wow! PreNatal (which is no longer on the market) is estimated to contain 5.52 mcg per day. Experts say that lead exposure at these levels is unlikely to be dangerous, but the vitamin-testing specialists at ConsumerLab.com recommend avoiding any unnecessary lead exposure, because you are probably exposed to lead in other areas of your life as well.

The state of California requires that all supplements carry warning labels if they contain more than 0.5 mcg of lead in a daily serving. If you are worried about lead, several prenatal multivitamins tested by the FDA have lower levels, including Nature's Plus Prenatal Liquid (*Est. $13 for 30 ounces) at 0.116 mcg/day and Pregnancy Plus Prenatal Multivitamin (*Est. $17 for 60 tablets) at 0.189 mcg/day.

The Pregnancy Plus Prenatal Multivitamin also scores highly in recent tests conducted by ConsumerLab.com. Pregnancy Plus contains many of the recommended nutrients for pregnant women, including 5,000 IU of vitamin A (all in the safer form of beta-carotene), 600 mcg of folic acid and 27 mg of iron. The multi contains only 40 mg of calcium (4 percent of DV), and pregnant women should talk to their doctor about an additional calcium supplement to meet the recommended 1,000 mg per day. Some users say it has a strong vegetable smell, but others say the Pregnancy Plus multivitamin is easy to swallow.

Nature's Plus Prenatal Liquid multi also performs well on the FDA lead test. This multi requires you to take one capful per day, but it contains far less iron than the Pregnancy Plus Prenatal multi -- 4 mg compared to 27 mg in Pregnancy Plus. However, it does contain 800 mcg of folic acid. User reviews on Vitacost.com find most women commenting that the liquid multi is easier to take than a large prenatal pill. A few say they wish it had a more pleasant taste, however.

GNC Women's Prenatal Formula with Iron (*Est. $18 for 120 caplets) contains 1,000 mcg of folic acid, 18 mg of iron and 600 mg of calcium. It also has 4,500 IU of vitamin A, and all of it's in the safer beta-carotene form. GNC Women's Prenatal Formula isn't included in ConsumerLab.com's latest test, but it is one of three prenatal multivitamins approved by the organization in an older testing report. The few user reviews we see on Drugstore.com are positive, and reviewers report few side effects.

To save money, you might consider generic or store brands. ConsumerLab.com recently approved one store brand, Rite Aid Prenatal Tablets with Folic Acid (*Est. $8.50 for 100 tablets), for pregnant women. This one-a-day prenatal vitamin contains most of the standards for pregnant women, including 800 mcg of folic acid and 27 mg of iron, although only 25 percent of the vitamin A (4,000 IU in total) is available as beta-carotene. There's only 200 mg of calcium, so ask your doctor if you need an additional calcium supplement. The Rite Aid Prenatal multivitamin does get high marks from users at Drugstore.com, where women say the pills are easy to swallow without any strong odors or tastes.