When moms-to-be experience depression, it is known as antenatal depression. Not only does this condition make life hard for the mother, it can be tough on their babies once they're born. On the heels of over 50 independent studies, showing that a very highly concentrated blend of every single essential vitamin and minerals called “Daily Essential Nutrients” by Hardy Nutritionals® can help adults feel better mentally, comes a new study showing that taking this unique balance of essential nutrients during pregnancy results in healthier babies who develop well, early on. The study looked at how giving “Daily Essential Nutrients” to pregnant women experiencing depression compares with giving them antidepressant drugs (or no treatment at all) in terms of how their babies act and respond to the world in their first month.

The study involved examining 103 newborns within their first 28 days. They divided the babies into three groups: 37 whose moms took the micronutrients by Hardy Nutritionals® while pregnant, 18 whose moms took antidepressant drugs, and 48 whose moms didn't take any of these treatments and weren't depressed. They used a special baby test called the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) to see how the babies responded in different areas like paying attention, moving, regulating their moods, and other basic body functions.

After considering factors such as pregnancy length and number of pregnancies, they found some differences between the groups. Babies whose moms took the specialized blend of micronutrients did better in areas like paying attention, moving, and staying calm compared to babies whose moms took antidepressants or didn't take anything. Babies from the antidepressant group had a harder time with focusing and with reflexes than the other two groups. The longer a mom took the Daily Essential Nutrients, the better her baby was at acclimating. The study showed that taking the micronutrient blend was a good predictor of how well the babies would do, even better than considering if the mom was feeling down, her living situation, how long the pregnancy was, or the baby's gender.

Supplementing properly while in the womb seems to protect against the negative effects of a mom's depression on her baby, showing that these babies can do as well or even better than babies from typical pregnancies and definitely better than those whose moms took antidepressants. Thousands of people have avoided long-term use of antidepressants by successfully supplementing properly. Daily Essential Nutrients is available without a prescription at HardyNutritionals.com. When moms-to-be experience depression, it is known as antenatal depression. Not only does this condition make life hard for the mother, it can be tough on their babies once they're born.

On the heels of over 50 independent studies evaluating Daily Essential Nutrients by Hardy Nutritionals® comes a unique and exciting two-part study showing that taking this unique balance of essential nutrients during pregnancy resulted in healthier moms and healthier babies. The study assessed the effect of giving “Daily Essential Nutrients” to pregnant women experiencing depression compared to a placebo and to antidepressants or treatment as usual.

Part One: Moms

The initial results were reported at the annual American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) conference in Toronto in 2022. Eighty-eight medication-free women who were at least twelve weeks pregnant and had a significant depression score on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were randomly assigned to twelve weeks of micronutrients or placebo containing iodine and riboflavin. A control group of fifty-two women using no treatments were recruited to compare treatment outcomes in both moms and babies. While we await the final publication of these results, Dr. Rucklidge reported that 69% of the women in the active group responded to treatment compared to 39% in the placebo group with improved maternal mental health outcomes.

Part Two: Babies

One-hundred-and-three newborns were evaluated within their first 28 days. The infants were in three groups: 37 whose moms took micronutrient while pregnant, 18 whose moms took antidepressants, and 48 whose moms didn't have any treatments and were not depressed. Using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) the micronutrient babies did better in areas like paying attention, movement and reflexes, and staying calm compared to babies whose moms took antidepressants or didn't take anything. Babies from the antidepressant group had a harder time with focusing and with reflexes than the other two groups. The longer a mom took the Daily Essential Nutrients, the better her baby was at acclimating.

The study showed that taking the micronutrient blend was a good predictor of how well the babies would do, even better than considering if the mom was feeling down, her living situation, how long the pregnancy was, or the baby's gender.

Conclusion:

Daily Essential Nutrients by Hardy Nutritionals® has been used to help many individuals with their mental health. We now have independent validation that micronutrients taken during pregnancy helps both the moms and the babies overcome the effects of antenatal depression with positive effects on infant behavior, equal with or better than typical pregnancies and superior to antidepressants.

Daily Essential Nutrients is available without a prescription at HardyNutritionals.com.

References

Julia Jane Rucklidge JJ, Bradley HA, Campbell S, Heaton JL, Mulder RT, Henderson J, Dixon L, Moltchanova E. 4.4 Vitamins and minerals treat antenatal depression and improve birth and infant development: Results of the double-blind NUTRIMUM RCT. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent. October 2022 Volume 61(10S). S283.

Campbell SA, Bradley HA, Mulder RT, Henderson JMT, Dixon L, Haslett LC, Rucklidge JJ. Effect of antenatal micronutrient or antidepressant exposure on Brazelton neonatal behavioral assessment scale (NBAS) performance within one-month of birth. Early Hum Dev. 2024 Mar;190:105948.

About Hardy Nutritionals®

Hardy Nutritionals® multivitamin-mineral products are powered by our proprietary NutraTek™ mineral delivery technology, which combines each mineral with specialized organic molecules—just like nature—to optimize absorption and distribution to body cells. Our flagship supplement, Daily Essential Nutrients, is widely considered to be the most research-backed micronutrient treatment.