Looking for the Best Prenatal Multivitamins?
See Comparison of 100 Vitamin Brands and Find the Right One for You
The way your baby’s organs develop during your pregnancy may affect how healthy your baby is later in life. Ensuring that your baby has access to all essential vitamins and minerals during these critical early stages of its growth can make a big difference in that respect. Providing your baby with optimal nutrition can help it avoid diseases such as Down’s syndrome, Autism, and ADD to name a few.
Taking vitamins and minerals during pregnancy is important for your own health as well. For example, when your diet doesn’t provide the optimal quantities of Calcium necessary for your baby’s growth, your body extracts Calcium from your bones in order to make up for the shortfall. This exposes you to the risk of developing osteoporosis.
During pregnancy, your needs for some of the essential vitamins and minerals are greatly elevated. In addition to consuming your normal quantities of all vitamins and minerals, there are six ingredients that are of particular importance:
| Ingredient | Benefits | Daily Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Folic Acid |
|
400mg (min) 1000mg (max) |
| Calcium |
|
1000mg (min) 2500mg (max) |
| Iron |
|
27mg (min) 45mg (max) |
| Vitamin D |
|
600 IU (min) 4000 IU (max) |
| Omega-3 fat (DHA & EPA) |
|
1.1g (min) 3.0g (max) |
| Vitamin C |
|
100mg (min) 2000mg (max) |
In order to ensure you have a healthy pregnancy, we recommend that you take five different supplement products:
- Multivitamin (for Vitamin C, Vitamin D and all other essential vitamins)
- Fish oil (for Omega-3 fat)
- Folic acid supplement
- Calcium supplement
- Iron supplement
This Multivitamin Guide focuses on comparing different multivitamins, so please talk to your local pharmacist for recommendations on the other four products.
What is the best multivitamin to take during pregnancy?
The table below provides a summary of the Effectiveness Scores of some of the more popular multivitamin brands available on the market, including some prenatal vitamin supplements.
Any vitamin supplement with a score that exceeds 8.0 is considered to be "excellent". Unfortunately a quick glance at the table below reveals that the great majority of vitamin products available on the market do not meet that threshold.
For best results, using a prenatal vitamin supplement with a score of 8.0 or above is strongly advised.
Effectiveness scores and ranking of the most popular vitamin brands (not all of which are prenatal)
| Company | Product | Effectiveness | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21st Century | One Daily Women's | 0.7 | 94 |
| 4Life | BioVitamins Type III | 4.5 | 55 |
| Absolute Nutrition | Dieters' Multi's | 2.7 | 77 |
| Action Labs | Essential Nutrients | 0.5 | 100 |
| Advanced Physician's Products | Maximum MultiVitamin/Mineral | 5.8 | 34 |
| amni | Added Protection III | 7.0 | 17 |
| Atkins | Basic #3 | 4.7 | 51 |
| Avon | VitAdvance Women's Complete Multivitamin | 1.2 | 88 |
| Bronson Laboratories | The Woman's Formula | 4.5 | 56 |
| Centrum | Silver | 4.6 | 54 |
| Colgan Institute | Formula MCS | 6.4 | 26 |
| Country Life | Maxine | 4.4 | 58 |
| DaVinci Laboratories | Spectra Woman | 6.8 | 21 |
| Doctor's Nutrition | Mega Vites Woman | 6.8 | 20 |
| Douglas Laboratories | Ultra Preventive X | 9.4 | 2 |
| Dr. Julian Whitaker's | Forward Multi-Nutrient | 7.6 | 14 |
| EAS | Multi-Blend | 6.3 | 29 |
| EcoNugenics | Women's Longevity Rhythms Gold | 5.8 | 35 |
| Equate | One Daily | 0.6 | 99 |
| Essentials by Megafood | Essentials for Life | 5.2 | 43 |
| Flora | MultiCaps | 1.2 | 89 |
| FoodScience of Vermont | Superior Care | 6.6 | 24 |
| Freeda Vitamins | Ultra Freeda | 2.7 | 79 |
| FreeLife | Reverse! | 8.6 | 6 |
| Garry Null's | Supreme Health Formula | 4.8 | 49 |
| Geritol | Complete | 0.4 | 101 |
| GNC | GNC Women's Ultra Mega | 6.9 | 19 |
| Good Neighbor Pharmacy | Balanced Care Complete Multi | 0.6 | 97 |
| Great Earth | TNT - Total Nutrition Tablet | 5.0 | 47 |
| Greens+ | Multi+ | 3.9 | 63 |
| Herbalife | Formula 2 MultivitaminComplex | 5.3 | 40 |
| Jamieson | Super Vita-Vim | 3.7 | 67 |
| Jarrow | Multi E-Z Powder | 5.0 | 46 |
| Jean Carper's | Stop Aging Now! | 6.0 | 32 |
| KAL | Multiple Energy | 5.2 | 42 |
| Karuna | Maxxum 4 | 7.9 | 10 |
| Kirkland Signature (Costco) | Daily Multi | 1.9 | 84 |
| Kroger | Advanced Formula Complete | 0.6 | 98 |
| Life Brand | Optimum | 0.6 | 96 |
| Life Extension Foundation | Life Extension Mix | 8.2 | 8 |
| Lifestyles | Lifecycles for Women | 1.6 | 86 |
| Mannatech | PhytoMatrix | 6.2 | 30 |
| Matol | Matolife | 4.1 | 62 |
| Melaleuca | Vitality Pak | 5.3 | 39 |
| Metagenics | Multigenics Intensive Care | 7.2 | 15 |
| Michael's Naturopathic Programs | for Women | 3.8 | 64 |
| Mountain Naturals of Vermont | Superior Care | 7.1 | 16 |
| Natrol | My Favorite Multiple Original | 3.8 | 65 |
| Natural Factors | MultiStart Women's | 5.9 | 33 |
| Nature Made | Multi Complete | 4.3 | 59 |
| Nature's Blend | Vitaminix Ultimate | 5.6 | 37 |
| Nature's Bounty | Green Source Vegetarian Formula | 4.1 | 61 |
| Nature's Plus | Uitra One | 2.0 | 83 |
| Nature's Sunshine | Super Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals | 2.7 | 78 |
| Nature's Way | Alive! Whole Food Energizer | 6.1 | 31 |
| Nikken | Kenzen Mega Daily 4 | 4.9 | 48 |
| NOW Foods | Multiple Vitamins - LiquidGels | 6.4 | 28 |
| Nu-life | Ultimate One for Women | 3.7 | 66 |
| Nutrilite (Amway, Quixtar) | Double X | 8.3 | 7 |
| Nutrition Dynamics | Optimum Health Essentials | 6.8 | 22 |
| One A Day | Essential | 4.5 | 57 |
| Optimox | Androvite for Women | 5.1 | 44 |
| Perfect Choice | Multivitamin Specially Formulated for Women | 2.9 | 73 |
| Pharmanex (Nu Skin) | LifePak Prime | 5.4 | 38 |
| PhytoPharmica | Clinical Nutrients for Women | 4.7 | 53 |
| Pilgrim's | Silver Stars Multi | 2.7 | 76 |
| Puritan's Pride | Women's One Daily Multivitamin | 6.5 | 25 |
| Purity Products | Perfect Multi Focus Formula | 7.0 | 18 |
| QCI Nutritionals | Ultra Vitality #1 | 5.2 | 41 |
| Quest | Maximum Once A Day | 4.2 | 60 |
| Rainbow Light | Advanced Nutritional System | 6.4 | 27 |
| Reliv | Classic | 1.1 | 90 |
| Ripple Creek | Mega-100 (Slow Release) | 3.3 | 70 |
| Rite Aid | Whole Source | 0.8 | 93 |
| Safeway Select | Super Women's Multivitamin | 2.9 | 72 |
| Schiff | Single Day | 2.4 | 82 |
| Shaklee | VitalizerGold | 8.9 | 4 |
| Sisu | Only One | 2.5 | 81 |
| Solaray | Spectro Multi-Vita-Min | 5.8 | 36 |
| Solgar | Omnium | 7.8 | 11 |
| Source Naturals | Life Force Multiple | 8.7 | 5 |
| SportPharma | Multiguard | 7.6 | 13 |
| Spring Valley | Maximum One Dally | 0.6 | 95 |
| Sundown | Complete Ultra | 0.9 | 91 |
| Sunkist | Multi-Women's | 1.7 | 85 |
| SupraLife | Maxum Essentials | 5.0 | 45 |
| Swiss Natural Sources | Super Adult Chewable | 3.4 | 69 |
| Thompson | Human Nature Green Multi | 3.0 | 71 |
| Thorne Research | Al's Formula | 4.8 | 50 |
| TwinLab | Daily One Caps with Iron | 6.7 | 23 |
| Ultimate Nutrition | Super Complete | 7.7 | 12 |
| USANA Health Sciences | Essentials | 9.3 | 3 |
| Vitamin Power | Power Source 100 | 2.8 | 75 |
| Vitamin Research Products | Extended Plus | 7.9 | 9 |
| Vitamin World | Daily 3 With Antioxidant Factors | 4.7 | 52 |
| Walgreens | Ultra Choice Premium Women | 3.5 | 68 |
| Watkins | Superfood Multiple | 2.8 | 74 |
| Western Family | Multra Forte | 1.3 | 87 |
| Xtend-Life | Total Balance Women's | 9.6 | 1 |
| YourLife | Super Multi with Herbs | 0.9 | 92 |
| ZonePerfect | Multi Vitamin & Mineral | 2.6 | 80 |
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