Vitamin and mineral supplements are only one building block of your baby's future health. Prenatal vitamins are not a substitute for a well-balanced prenatal diet.

Every vitamin and mineral plays an essential role for you and your baby. We are not adequately representing every important vitamin and mineral in this brief article. But we want to share a few examples:

Folic Acid is vital to normal fetal growth because it is needed for DNA synthesis and cell replication. Deficiency in this nutrient in the first trimester is linked to fetal neural tube defects in the developing baby (i.e., anencephaly or spina bifida).

Although many foods are rich in folic acid (e.g., legumes, orange juice, fortified cereals), during pregnancy (and even before if you are planning to be pregnant soon), supplement your diet with at least 400 mcg of folic acid per day.

Zinc helps your baby grow healthy bones. During pregnancy you need 15 mg of zinc each day. In a study of 242 pregnant women, researchers found that the babies of mothers who supplemented zinc showed much greater bone growth than babies whose moms did not.  Also, mild zinc deficiency has been related to prolonged or inefficient labor and premature rupture of the membranes.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids (DHA) are brain food for your developing baby. They make up more than half of your newborn baby’s brain and are the main component of its developing nervous system and retina.

The only way your baby can get these essential oils is through your diet or supplementation (see side bar). The Child Health Foundation recommends pregnant and lactating women supplement their diet daily with nearly 1000 mg of omega-3 oils containing balanced rations of EPA and DHA.

Deficiencies of omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to premature births, decreased visual function, attention deficit disorder (ADD), low IQ, abnormally low birth weights and postpartum depression.

Additionally, mothers who eat food rich in Omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and while nursing, and who continue to feed their babies such a diet after weaning, may reduce their daughters' risk of developing breast cancer later in life (research presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of  the American Association for Cancer Research).

Excerpted from Nourishing the Life Within, a book in progress by Pam England and Lyn Jones. Copyright© 2006.

Original artwork by Pam England ©1998

 
Bibliography

Caulfield, Laura E. “Zinc deficiency during pregnancy causes bone problems in fetus.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, May 2004.

Caulfield LE, Zavaleta N, Shankar AN, et all. “Potential contribution of maternal zinc supplementation during pregnancy to maternal and child survival.”  American Journal Clinical Nutrition. 1998; 68 (supplement); pp 499-508.

Allen KG, Harris MA. “The role of n-3 fatty acids in gestation and parturition.” Experimental Biology and Medicine. 2001; 226, pp 489-506.

“Mother’s prenatal and lactational diet may protect daughters from breast cancer.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. February 2003: 77 (2): pp473-474.

Sjurdur Frodi Olsen and Niels Jorgen Secher. “Low consumption of seafood in early pregnancy as a risk factor for preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study.” British Medical Journal. February 23, 2002; pp. 447-450.