Pregnancy Vitamins

So, here’s something that may shock you: with my last pregnancy, I didn’t take any all-inclusive pregnancy vitamin. I know, it’s shocking, isn’t it? I took a basic folic acid supplement (also known as vitamin B9) and, controversially, a vitamin D supplement. My midwife, who I loved, told me not to worry about taking any more – so I didn’t.

But this time, it’s been different all round. First off, my GP has been worried about the effects of excess vitamin D on a foetus, and since your general prenatal supplement contains vitamin D, she advised me to skip it. Folic acid, meanwhile, is one of the top ingredients in most prenatal supplements, so there was no worry about my lacking in that (although my body may have thought so – in the first trimester I found myself craving more citrus fruits and leafy greens than usual, which are high in natural vitamin B9).

When I saw a gynae for my 20-week check and scan, he advised taking a general inclusive prenatal vitamin. I started out taking the most popular brand, but I was invited to try Chela Preg Trimester 1,2,3.

Chela Preg is a newer supplement, and instead of being a general, all round kind of tablet, it separates into the 3 different trimesters. Now, because I heard of it late, I didn’t start taking it until 27 weeks, and therefore had only a week of the 2nd trimester pack. So I’m not going to even bother giving an opinion on it. Im not qualified!

However, I am now 2 weeks into trustee 3 of Chela Preg. So far, I’m liking it. Now, I’m no scientist, so I can’t claim that slightly less reflux is down to the different medication, or if it’s just a moving baby. If you believe in coincidence, then maybe it’s just that… or maybe not.

There are 4 tablets to take a day in trimester 3. This is, admittedly, a slight struggle for me – I had to have the copper loop inserted at 12 weeks pregnant, as I couldn’t handle taking the mini-pill at the same time every day – so these were a bit of a nightmare to get used to! I found placing them next to the glass cupboard helped, so that I’d see them getting my morning juice, and in the evenings getting my dinner drink. So far so good!

In the third trimester pack, the idea is that the vitamins and nutrients are formulated to help with excessive growth of the foetus. This means more iron (the chelated form, so less constipation and reflux are the aims of the game, here), more calcium for strong bones, and more zinc and vitamins C and E to help reduce the chance of complications in the rest of the pregnancy and during birth.

So far, sounds so great, right? I just liked the idea of the tablets being formulated specifically (I’m a nerd like that, sometimes) and I honestly didn’t know if I’d feel any different after changing them over. And, of course, we’ll probably (hopefully?) never know if any one brand of vitamin does any harm, or has any benefits, more than the other. However – I can say I’ve felt pretty good since using it (who knows if that’s a placebo effect?) AND it’s cheaper than the leading brands – and I mean, MUCH cheaper – the leading brand of prenatal supplements costs r208 per 30-day pack. Chela Preg Trimester 123 costs r600 for the entire 9 months or so of pregnancy. It’s a no-brainer, for cost effectiveness if nothing else.

For a more official review of this product, go to News24.