DHA Prenatal Vitamins

Just Once Prenatal Pack on a Great Sale Here

Just Once Prenatal Multivitamin/DHA Vitamin Pack

For the price and the quality, you really can’t beat this prenatal pack that comes with both a multivitamin and DHA prenatal vitamins.  This pack on Amazon is only $15.  That’s a really good deal for two sets of prenatal supplements.  At first, I was worried that because of the low price, the quality of the product might not be the greatest.  But in doing more research, I found that these prenatal vitamins are among the best out there.  They’re just on a great sale.

There are a few reasons why I like this brand.  One, is the obvious 100% natural that’s stamped right on the front of the package.  That’s always something I look for with supplements.  Two, is the fact that the multivitamin is very well balanced.  They give you everything you need, and a lot of extras that are just nice to have — ginger for upset stomach, digestive enzymes and probiotics for digestive support and better absorption of nutrients.  These aren’t really all that necessary from a multivitamin standpoint, but are definitely nice to have, especially during a time when your body needs as many vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients as it can absorb.  The other reason I like Just Once is because they obviously know the value of DHA during pregnancy, which is why they include the DHA soft gels in their pack.  A lot of companies either sell DHA separately or just not at all, but Just Once combines them in this prenatal pack and puts both on sale.  That’s great for the consumer.

If you take a look at the list of ingredients in the prenatal multivitamin, you’d see that they have everything that any of the other brands have — the full spectrum of Vitamins A, B, C, D, K; Minerals like Iron, Zinc, and Magnesium; and extra beneficial compounds like Choline and Inositol.  If you’re looking for a full spectrum prenatal multivitamin plus a good source of DHA, all at a great price, then this is an awesome way to go.  If you already have a good multivitamin and are just looking for DHA prenatal vitamins, then you might want to go with the Nordic Naturals brand we reviewed earlier.  They’re a great brand for all fish oil supplements and have a long history of quality.

Promise DHA Prenatal Vitamins on Sale Here

Promise DHA Prenatal Vitamins by Bluebonnet

Bluebonnet brand makes DHA prenatal vitamins called Early Promise.  Promise Prenatal is a great brand because they offer different prenatal vitamins for each stage of pregnancy.  They realize that the different stages of pregnancy offer different challenges and they seek to meet each of those stages with the right formula for the best health of both mother and child.  This makes them one of the top brands in prenatal vitamins.  Developed by both doctors and nutritional experts, Promise Prenatal is considered one of the foremost in prenatal vitamins.

Promise Prenatal has a main supplement that’s also accompanied by a DHA soft gel. The picture above is of the DHA soft gel tablet that accompanies the rest of the supplement.  This DHA prenatal vitamin can be taken on its own or with the three stage Promise Prenatal supplement.  If you’re already satisfied with your other prenatal vitamins but are just looking for ways to incorporate more DHA into your diet, then this can be a very good way to go.  If however, you don’t yet have a good prenatal multivitamin, the Promise Prenatal is a great brand to check into.  Like we said earlier, their formula is based on a three stage supplement, supporting each trimester of the pregnancy uniquely to help both mother and child reach maximum health.  Each trimester is very different, and it only makes sense to take a prenatal vitamin that realizes that and wants to target the specific stage you’re in uniquely.  Whether you go for Promise Prenatal or just check out there DHA prenatal vitamins, I’m glad you’re doing your research, both for your own sake, and for the health of your baby.

Nordic Naturals DHA Prenatal Vitamins on Sale Here

Nordic Naturals Brand DHA Prenatal Vitamins

Nordic Naturals is a great brand name known for high quality fish oil supplements.  Since DHA comes primarily from fish oil, Nordic Naturals DHA prenatal vitamins are some of the best out there.  DHA is a compound that’s surprisingly not added to a lot of prenatal vitamins.  I’ve looked through the ingredients in a lot of different brands and DHA isn’t on the list of many of the more expensive brands.  That’s so surprising considering how much recent research has shown DHA to be a remarkably beneficial supplement for both mother and baby.  Not only that, but because of the fact that pregnant mothers are advised to stay away from fish because of the potential for mercury poisoning, there is almost an epidemic of DHA deficiency in pregnant women.

Nordic Naturals is probably one of the top 2 names in fish oil.  In the last post, we reviewed fish oil from Carlson, which is the other top name, as a good way of making sure you’re getting all the Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids you need.  But that was before we stumbled upon this supplement from Nordic Naturals.  If you’re going to take a fish oil supplement from a top brand, why not take one that’s particularly catered to pregnancy?  Fish oil in general is always beneficial, but it’s nice to buy a supplement that’s particularly catered to pregnancy and has the health of the baby and the mother in mind.

If you aren’t familiar with all of the benefits of DHA during pregnancy, we really recommend you check out our informational category to the right about DHA and pregnancy.  But for a quick recap, DHA is an essential fatty acid used heavily by the brain.  It’s often called brain food.  During pregnancy, the developing baby requires lots of DHA for the formation of its brain and central nervous system.  This puts the mother at risk of a deficiency and often is one of the main causes of postpartum depression in mothers.  DHA has been studied heavily in regards to its positive effects on depression.

Best Brand of Fish Oil on Sale Here

Fish Oil for DHA Prenatal Vitamins

One of the best ways to get DHA into your system without having to take prenatal vitamins is to take fish oil.  Fish oil is one of the very best sources of Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids, both DHA and EPA, which are both very beneficial to the body.  A lot of the time, when people hear about the amazing benefits of fish oil and how high fish is with DHA, they want to immediately start eating more fish.  That’s fine, but I want to give you a word of caution.  Fish, depending on where they come from, can have toxins like mercury in them, which can be especially dangerous for your baby if you’re pregnant.  Many expecting mothers opt for taking a fish oil supplement over eating the fish itself for this very reason.

It’s sad that in our world, so many different food sources have contaminants and toxins.  But luckily for us, there are other sources of high quality nutrition available.  While fish oil isn’t strictly considered a DHA prenatal vitamin, it’s still an amazing source of DHA.  A lot of times, an expecting mother will take a variety of different things.  If you already have prenatal vitamins that you’re happy with, but they don’t have DHA, you might want to consider supplementing with fish oil to get your DHA and other Omega 3s.  But, if you don’t yet have other prenatal vitamins that you’re happy with and you’re wanting ones that incorporate DHA into them, you might want to check out some of the other reviews to see if you might prefer to take prenatal vitamins with DHA already in them.  The main thing is that you find vitamins and supplements that meet your needs and that you’re happy with.

DHA During Pregnancy

Pregnancy, as we all know, causes huge changes in your life.  One of those changes is a hyper-sensitivity to what you’re eating.  Most women take immediate stock in the foods and beverages they’ve been consuming and get rid of anything that may be potentially harmful to their growing baby.  It’s a very smart and healthy response to having a baby.  Most women also start taking a prenatal vitamin or supplement of some kind.  But surprisingly, many of the most popular prenatal supplements out there don’t have Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids in them, which is surprising considering all the most current research that shows how beneficial DHA is during pregnancy.  For those who don’t know, DHA is one of the main components in Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids. So what’s this research I’m talking about?

A lot of it started when scientists began to notice that mothers living in areas of high fish consumption seemed to have babies with fewer harmful effects from pregnancy, and also afterward, less likely to suffer from conditions like ADD.  These mothers also showed a resistance to postpartum depression, which was also an interesting feature.  DHA heavily affects both of these areas.  First, DHA is a required substance for a developing baby’s nervous system and brain.  Low levels of DHA hamper their ability to develop fully.  Second, because of the large amounts of DHA that’s needed for the development of the baby, the mother often experiences a DHA deficiency, which very often leads to depression.

In clinical trials, patients suffering from depression were administered DHA to see whether or not DHA would directly improve depression.  In many of the cases, patients who had taken the DHA noted improvements in their condition.  Depression is a very complex condition that can be brought on by a variety of factors.  Pregnancy too, causes complex changes, and when combined with something like depression, can be very difficult to deal with.  Making sure your body has all of the compounds it needs is a very good way of dealing with postpartum depression.

There’s another big benefit to taking DHA during pregnancy that has also been noted through research.  The risk of early labor seems to be lower in women who take DHA prenatal vitamins.  This is significant, because since the baby has a longer gestation period, their internal organs and other functions are generally better formed than babies who have less time to develop in the womb.  Though further research is needed to know exactly why this happens, preliminary research seems to suggest that DHA is one of the main compounds responsible for a longer development period of babies in the womb.