Can You Take Micronutrients While Pregnant?
Not only can you— you should!

People around the world have experienced life-changing improvements to their overall health as a direct result of the micronutrients found in Hardy Nutritionals® formulations, Optimal Balance®, and Daily Essential Nutrients. People ask us all the time, 'Can I take micronutrients while pregnant or nursing?'

The answer is: Not only can you take micronutrients while pregnant, but you should!

The Science Behind Prenatal Micronutrients

It stands to reason, and research shows, that women who are pregnant have higher than normal nutrient needs. In fact, for the three months before, nine months during, and the year after pregnancy, women need much higher nutrient values to fully support their bodies and the development of their baby before, during, and after pregnancy. 

In 2019, researchers published a paper with the NIH titled Macronutrient and Micronutrient Intake During Pregnancy: An Overview of Recent Evidence. They discovered that nutritional status during pregnancy has a significant impact on both maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Certain micronutrients, such as folic acid and iodine, prevented neural tube defects and physical deformities and learning disabilities caused by congenital thyroid deficiency. But folic acid (or folate, like we use in our supplements) and iodine are not the only nutrients utilized in the process of baby-making. The body needs over 30 essential vitamins and minerals to sustain life.

Scientists found that calcium supplementation could prevent hypertensive disorders, for instance, especially for women at high-risk or with low dietary calcium intake. 

“Despite a large body of evidence supporting the importance of adequate nutrition in pregnancy, around 20% to 30% of pregnant women worldwide suffer from some vitamin deficiency,” the paper reports. Ultimately, this can affect the baby's development and the recovery process for the mother after birth.

By supplementing the diet with highly absorbable micronutrients packed with every single essential vitamin and mineral, like Optimal Balance or Daily Essential Nutrients, pregnant women fared much better overall. According to the research:

• Supplementation with folic acid or folate during preconception and early pregnancy is critical and can prevent 40–80% of neural tube defects such as spina bifida.
•  Increased levels of vitamin A are needed during pregnancy to support growth and tissue maintenance in the fetus.
• Vitamin B12 insufficiency is proposed to negatively affect 25% of pregnancies worldwide.
• Iron is key for supplying the fetus with a healthy placenta and blood supply.
• Vitamin D is needed for nerves, muscles, and immune system development.
• Copper is needed to maintain nerve, bones, and immune system health during pregnancy.
• Zinc is required for healthy cell support.
• Vitamin E is needed for eye and brain development.
• Magnesium is required for maintaining nerve and muscle cell generation.

A separate study published in The Journal of Nutrition discovered the supplementation of multiple micronutrients actually reduced fetal loss, early infant mortality, and improved birth weight. A third study emphasized these results, concluding “Multinutrient supplementation in pregnancy led to a reduction in babies considered low birth weight, and probably led to a reduction in babies considered Small for Gestational Age.” 

Many Pregnant Women Are Nutrient Deficient

Traditionally, our society has received the nutrients our body needs from food intake. However, studies now show that may not be enough. Our soil is depleted, our foods are over-processed, and as a result, we’re losing valuable micronutrients.  This could be just one explanation of why women in the United States may not be getting enough nutrients during pregnancy.

In 2019, JAMA published a study that found in an analysis of over 1,000 pregnant women in the U.S., 48% were low in magnesium, 46% were deficient of vitamin D, 43% were deficient in vitamin E and 36% were in iron.

While almost 70% of these women reported taking a supplement, they were still seeing a high amount of vitamin deficiencies in expectant mothers. This is because most multivitamin-mineral supplements are either poorly absorbed, improperly balanced, or contain low levels of nutrients.

That’s where Hardy Nutritionals® micronutrient formulations can make a difference. 

Daily Essential Nutrients is a clinical-strength, broad-spectrum micronutrient formulation. It doesn’t just include a few micronutrients, like B12 and Vitamin A. It includes clinical levels of every single essential vitamin and mineral the body needs before, during, and after pregnancy in a highly absorbable, balanced format. Daily Essential Nutrients is backed by multiple independent studies for mood, stress, anxiety, focus, and depression.

Alternatively, Optimal Balance®, is our regular-strength broad-spectrum micronutrient formulation.  It too contains every single vitamin and mineral essential for brain development and general health, at slightly lower levels than those found in our clinical-strength formula. An independent study found stress and insomnia decreased by 64% after taking Optimal Balance®. It helps prevent birth defects, and it even helps reduce postpartum depression.

Our micronutrients are made up of only the good: they’re sugar-free, gluten-free, GMO-free, soy-free, top 8 allergen -free, and vegan. 

Visit Try.HardyNutritionals.com/prenatal today to learn more.

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.