In the next year, an estimated four million babies will be born in the United States. One in nine of these babies will be born pre-term, a leading cause of developmental delays and neurological disabilities in children.
To help address the nutrient deficiencies that cause many of these health issues, the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) now recommends that all women capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 µg of folic acid daily and ensure adequate iron and calcium levels.
Over 40% of US women of childbearing age already take a daily prenatal supplement. If you are in the small majority of women who do not already consume a prenatal vitamin every day, or if you want to know how your existing prenatal vitamin helps support your own health, this infographic is for you:
Credits
- Infographic designed by Jessie Orvidas (jessieorvidas.com)
- Co-author: Shoua Kue
- Prenatal Vitamin Rankings – LabDoor
- Effects of Prenatal Micronutrient and Early Food Supplementation on Maternal Hemoglobin, Birth Weight, and Infant Mortality among Children in Bangladesh: the MINIMat Randomized Trial – Journal of the American Medical Association
- Maternal Nutrition and Infant Mortality in the Context of Relationality – Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute
- The Role of Nutrition in Infant Mortality: a Public Health Perspective – Association of State Public Health Nutritionists
- Recommended Intakes – Institutes of Medicine
- Vitamins and Minerals During Pregnancy – March of Dimes
- Birth Defects – Child Health USA 2014
- Folate and Neural Tube Defects – The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Folic Acid, Data, and Statistics – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Prevention of Neural-Tube Defects with Folic Acid in China. China-U.S. Collaborative Project for Neural Tube Defect Prevention – New England Journal of Medicine
- Association Between Maternal Use of Folic Acid Supplements and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children – The Journal of the American Medical Association
- Prenatal Vitamins: a Review of the Literature on Benefits and Risks of Various Nutrient Supplements – Anna K. Sfakianaki, MD, MPH, ModernMedicineNetwork
- New Recommendations Call for Iodine in All Prenatal Vitamins – Massachusetts General Hospital
- Iodine in Prenatal Vitamins – Medscape
- Vitamin D and Pregnancy – American Pregnancy Association
- Iodine Deficiency – American Thyroid Association