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  1. Lindsay says

    I personally like/ trust taking Pure Synergy’s Prenatal. Have you ever looked into this one? Organic, whole food based.

  2. Ashley says

    Halfway through my pregnancy and have been taking Garden of Life Vitamin Code Raw Food Prenatal and saw that it’s only ranked as Okay Stuff – hoping this is ok 🙁

  3. Mellissa says

    I had a prenatal visit today and showed my doctor the New Chapter prenatals I had been (inconsistently) taking. She thought the Vitamin A content was a bit high, and also noted their horse pill size (hence me not being consistent). She gave me samples of a gummy prenatal called Vitafol and gave me a prescription for it. Of course, my insurance doesn’t cover it and it’s $440, so I did not fill it. I love your lists, and this one was so timely. Just wondering, if you had to pick the best of the worst/gummies which would it be?

  4. Tierney Johnson says

    WOOT! Thanks for this, when your guides release a recommendation, I am all over it. I share your guides with so many people!

  5. Kristina Maldonado says

    What about MyKind Organics Prenatal Vitamin? I was excited to see a gummy vitamin that was organic and had Folate instead of Folic Acid. Is there anything questionable about it?

  6. Allison says

    Have you looked at Prenatal with DHA by Orthomolecular? My functional medicine doctor did a lot of research and recommended this for people who have the gene mutation MTHFR.

  7. Heather says

    Have you looked at Best Nest Wellness? Its made with organic fruits and vegetables, probiotics, digestive enzymes and whole food based vitamins and minerals. Its gluten, soy free and one a day. It has the correct Vit A, E and methylfolate. Id love to know your opinion on this brand.

  8. Rupali Monga says

    Thanks for this list. I have the MTHFR mutation and got a prescription from a genetic/MTHFR specialist for Klaire labs prenatal & nursing formula. Here is the link to the vitamin list: https://klaire.com/prn-prenatal-nursing-formula. What are your thoughts on this? I already had my baby and had placenta insufficiency due to blood clots in my placenta and through that I discovered that I have blood clotting genetic disorder including MTHFR mutation. So doing as much research as I can now on prenatal for next baby. Thanks!

  9. Megan says

    Also, I don’t see New Chapter’s Prenatal when in the NSF-certified products database. There are other products listed for the brand, but not the prenatal. Can you look back into your sources that say it is NSF certified?

    I am trying to get a handle on the different certifications out there. What do you know about the C.L.E.A.N. certification? I have come across that one on a supplement as well, but many don’t have it. Thanks!

  10. Stephanie says

    This is such a great resource! I will be switching from Thorne to a better prenatal right away! Any chance you can do a non-prenatal multi-vitamin guide next? I’d love to make sure my husband is taking a quality multi! Thanks!

  11. Megan says

    Is the Boron in the RITUAL natural or synthesized? It appears to be synthesized from what I have been able to dig up, but I can’t confirm. Are there other synthesized nutrients as well (in addition to the choline and possibly boron)? I was excited to see this new “all natural” prenatal, but now I am not so sure about the use of multiple synthetic ingredients. Thanks again for all of your research on this. I know how time consuming it can be 🙂

    • Maia James says

      Yes, Ritual uses some synthesized nutrients, but they’ve done careful research about which might actually be better in their synthesized form.

  12. Natalie says

    I’m wondering what you’d recommend for someone who has to avoid iron supplements? (I have hereditary hemochromatosis which causes my body to absorb & store excess iron.)

  13. Sonia says

    Hey! I loved this article and switched to the Ritual pre-natal. Unfortunately I need to provide some really vital feedback. They only send you enough for 30 days and you cannot buy them in a store (shipment service only). They send you and email saying they will get there with a day or so (which was scary of course but I trusted their service) but to my dismay I am supposed to receive them today and it shows on the USPS site that they only brought them to the USPS facility THIS MORNING. As you can imagine I am a crazy pregnant lady and I threw a huge fit (I have yet to hear back from them). But now on top of that stress I need to go buy new vitamins and it’s a all big thing. Basically, who cares how great a vitamin if their shipping is shitty and you don’t end up being able to take them because they didn’t arrive? This experience alone is making me cancel this damn subscription and going back to one I can buy in a store to eliminate any uncertainty.

    • Sonia says

      UPDATE: After several phone calls and them telling me that it would arrive on time (it didn’t) they sent me a free bottle so that this would not be an issue again. I appreciate them sending me another bottle as a buffer for sure.

  14. kelly says

    Yikes, no even a word on Nature’s Made prenatal. Im worried now since i took that on my first pregnancy. And even though, my diet was pretty good, Im so frustrated i didnt do my research beforehand as there could be some dangers with certain synthetic forms, like folic acid! Thanks for this list, you are awesome!

  15. Sarah says

    My son is 4 years old now and I am expecting my second baby. I was looking for information on prenatal vitamins and came across your post & https://www.whattoexpect.com/getting-pregnant/health-and-wellness/foods-to-enjoy/prenatal-vitamins.aspx. The ideas on prenatal vitamins are so much in detail and they are so useful. During my first pregnancy though my diet was good I am upset that I didn’t do my research beforehand on what prenatal vitamins should I take because of some dangers with certain synthetic forms. But this time I am happy because I got to know so much from your blog and I can choose from a variety of products depending upon my need for the vitamins. Very informative I loved this.

  16. Annmarie Zuluaga Yafrate says

    Hi Maia -What are your thoughts on the Best Nest prenatal? I’m struggling with GI issues (constipation mostly) and Ritual prenatal isn’t working for me because of it. Trying to find an alternative prenatal or just a good multi-vitamin to take along with a separate folate. Thanks!

  17. Pershin Moradi says

    Hi some of the vitamins you posted in the good stuff like raw vitamin code have stearates, these are known cancer causing agents. These are anti-caking agents. You may want to look into this. Also, I found this prenatal and it seems pretty impressive, I would be interested in your thoughts, nutrigold prenatal. Thanks for this website, it’s been very informative and helpful 🙂

    • Natalie says

      Can you please confirm where you received info regarding stearates in GOL Raw vitamin line? Our whole family uses the Raw line (men’s, women’s, family/kids, and prenatal). I personally called to check up on this and the response that I received is that it’s a chelated form derived from whole food sources and not classified as a citrate or malate form of magnesium. I tend to believe this as they do contain the correct forms/sources of other vitamins/minerals to include Folate, D3, B12, Iodine etc. We’ve been very happy with the RAW vitamins line for several years now, however, I do like to stay informed. If you can please provide any concrete info regarding your claims I’d greatly appreciate it, thanks!

    • Maia James says

      Hi there-Thanks for putting Nutrigold on our radar! We will definitely look into this brand when we update the guide. As for the stearates, we did look into those and I know they are controversial. Ultimately, we sided with Dr. Ax on this (I’m a big fan of his), who says;
      “The bottom line is this: Like most fillers and bulk additives…stearate isn’t healthy in high doses, but it’s definitely not as harmful to consume as some make it out to be because it’s typically only available in minuscule doses.”

  18. Chase says

    I’ve worked in the supplement industry 10 years. While Maia and Michael did their best with this guide it isn’t accurate on many levels. I’ve emailed them 3 times addressing many of the errors but never heard back. One example, claiming the Garden of Life Prenatal is raw is not even remotely accurate. That is all marketing on GOLs part. I have no dog in this fight other than fighting misinformation on the topic. The vitamin category in the supplement space is shady. All of the ‘whole food’ prenatals or vitamins are spiked with synthetic vitamins but presented as if they are extracted from whole foods. Mega Foods, New Chapter and a few others have updated their labels and listed synthetics so it is more accurate but even New Chapter’s wording on the supplement facts panel makes it sound like the nutrients are from the fermentation broth. Yes, a small amount but most all of it is from synthetics. They did this because they got bought out by the big boys (see second Woodstock Vitamins link below)! One big hold out is Purenatal (and the rest of their vitamins) by The Synergy Company. Even with their new rebranding they chose to continue to hide they ferment whole foods with synthetics. An outsider would read the label and think it’s all extracted from food. Not so! They are privately held and are willing to run the risk and take advantage of weak rules on supplement labeling. There isn’t a truly whole food prenatal on the market. Most synthetic vitamins are from China or India. Very few use sources from elsewhere because of price and market dominance by those two countries. As of a couple years ago Purenatal was sourcing non-Chinese synthetics but I’m not sure if that has changed. If you want more details on different types of vitamins and who owns who, check out these Woodstock Vitamins articles on the topic (https://www.woodstockvitamins.com/blogs/learn/the-garden-of-lies) (https://www.woodstockvitamins.com/blogs/learn/the-mega-corporations-that-own-your-supplement-brand). Neal is an insider with in-depth knowledge on the topic and something Maia and Michael will never get to unfortunately because they are not from the industry. It’s too complicated for outsiders, sadly.

    For anyone that needs some real guidance on pregnancy nutrition then reach out to Josh Boughton. He has more knowledge than anyone I know in the industry. He is an herbalist, industry consultant for 15+ years, honest, smart and funny. He truly cares about the industry and being honest about what he recommends and sells. The quality checks that he goes through to ensure what he sells is truly a quality product is second to none.
    https://www.joshboughton.com/pregnancy

    Again, I have no financial relationship with Josh or Neal. They are some of the few telling the truth and it is enlightening, frustrating and refreshing to learn the truth. I’m simply tired of blog posts such as this getting it so wrong, not editing the content based on feedback and then inadvertently misleading their readers. I’m a fan of what Maia is doing and use and respect her guides but not her supplement guides. -Chase

    • Maia James says

      Hi Chase-Thanks for taking the time to write in, and I’m sorry that we’ve not had time to respond to your emails personally (we don’t have the capacity to respond to individual emails anymore, unfortunately). You’ll notice that we did actually explain the following in the post: “One particularly sneaky move involves culturing cheap synthetic vitamins in yeast and then using the yeast culture as if it’s a “food-based” form.

      It’s unclear if these yeast cultured vitamins are less effective than truly food-based ones, but either way, it’s not the type of transparency we like to see in our Good Stuff Brands! (Garden of Life does this, but we give them a nod as the only raw organic prenatal vitamin we could find.)”

      I will definitely reach out to Josh to learn more.

      Thanks again!
      -Maia

  19. chase says

    Maia,

    Thanks for finally replying. I did read that part of your post and appreciate you mentioning it. That line needs to be developed more because it is a critical piece of your guide and transparency in this space for your readers. GOL or anyone else is not producing a “raw” prenatal. That is impossible unless someone is taking a truly whole food prenatal that contains raw natural ingredients and even then the term “raw” isn’t regulated unless one looks to the RAW and CLEAN standards (https://cleanfoodcertified.org). The issue of country of origin of the vitamins should also weigh heavily in your rankings of a brand. All Chinese vitamins should be a mark down for a brand. Consumers looking to support a natural brand like the ones mentioned would likely want to know if that brand is secretly support Chinese vitamin companies that are polluting the environment. It was so bad the Chinese government finally did something about it recently and prices for all vitamins shot up.

  20. Safiya Soderstrom says

    I took Garden of Life once a day prenatals. It seemed pretty wholesome, and I was trying to take the best thing I could find prior to and through my pregnancy. I was hoping to see it on here and I was nervous that it would be just okay, or even sneaky. Just curious as to where they stand?

  21. Joanna says

    Awesome article, thanks for all the foot work you have done in research. Can I ask, have you researched My Kind Organics Garden of Life prenatal vitamin? They claim that it is food based and has folate instead of folic acid on the label and is only $20 a bottle. Do you think it is legit?

  22. Verzul says

    Wow, thank you so much for all of your efforts! I wanted to add to your list Intramax. It is the best multivitamin out there that I have found and wanted you to compare it with your friend. I found a dosing protocol for pregnancy which is different than those who are just taking them for regular health maintenance reasons. It is not meant as a prenatal vitamin but a regular multivitamin so it has trace amounts of choline, both calcium and iron, but it has so many other vitamins and minerals. I think it could be used as a prenatal vitamin along with a choline supplement. Let me know what you think and/or find out or know about it. Thanks!

  23. Cara says

    This article is hugely helpful but I’m still feeling quite lost about Folate. This recommends Ritual but it seems to me like Ritual has WAY more Folate than is recommended – especially if we are only suppose to get 600 mcg DFE. I’m having a hard time finding a prenatal that is free of heavy metals but also doesn’t have a very high level of folate.

    This site’s testing has me nervous about many of the major vitamins.
    https://www.puremarket.com/search/?refinementList%5Btaxonomies_hierarchical.product_cat.lvl1%5D%5B0%5D=Health%20%26%20Fitness%20%3E%20Prenatal%20Vitamins

  24. Anuradha says

    Hi Maia, thanks for putting together useful information, can i ask your feedback on Vitamin IQ prenatal and Naturelo Prenatal (i was able to find both of brands certificate of authenticity (COA) lab results online).

  25. Tera says

    Hi Maia,
    I read your safe product guides regularly and I love them! Thank you for helping me make a change to our household products and a healthier environment for my family. I am currently expecting our third and this is the first time I am using a “prenatal vitamin” for pregnancy, with my first two I actually took Juice Plus (3 of each of fruit and vegetable blends per day as opposed to the standard 2) plus an omega3 supplement (cod liver oil) and of course extra vitamins from my diet especially ones high in folate. I’m curious as to your opinion about using juice plus instead of a prenatal?

  26. Katie says

    Yay! Thank you. I love that you love Ritual! I’ve been taking it for 6 months now. Am a bit concerned about choline being low now, I didn’t consider that. Do you have a choline supplement you’d recommend? How much choline is regularly needed?

    • Jas says

      I received my ritual Prenatal and been taking it. Then I realized that FOLATE in my bottle is 1700 MCG DFE (1000 mcg). Is that too high? They recently changed it to 1000 MCG DFE which is lower dose than in their Essential for Women that has 1020 MCG DFE (600 mcg). That means their Folate in new formulation is only a little over 400 mcg, which I worry if too small a dose for pregnant women. Most prenatal vitamins contain 600 mcg of Folate/folic acid. Also frustrating is that they are subscription based, and delivery sucks. I miss days of taking prenatal because the delivery is not on time. What makes it worse is that they are out of stock now.

      • Katie says

        Hi, I asked them about this and this is their response: Thanks for reaching out! The Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for folate in pregnancy is 600 mcg DFE. The RDI is the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97–98% of healthy individuals in the United States. The US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends a daily supplement of 400–800 mcg folic acid for all women who are planning or capable of pregnancy.” (400-800 mcg of folic acid is the equivalent of about 667 to 1333 mcg DFE—making our dose of 1000 mcg DFE right in the middle.) Our previous dosage of folate is considered safe, but we reduced it because new research suggests higher dosages does not necessarily provide additional benefits.

  27. VegaVites says

    These are some great tips on prenatal vitamin guide that you have discussed here. I really loved it and thank you very much for sharing this with us. You have a great visualization and you have really presented this content in a really good manner.

  28. Nikki says

    You say this about Thorne-
    “While this brand is highly ranked by several bloggers, it’s not food-based and appears to use chelated metals for most of its minerals.”

    Is this not true for Ritual??

    Thanks!!

  29. Jasmine says

    Hello Maia,

    I bought MegaFood after reading your Prenatal reviews. I bought Mega Baby & Me 2. I thought MegaFood is the best that would fit my Pregnancy prenatal needs. However, I came across this on Amazon. One reviewer said that “S. cerevisiae is beer/bread yeast and It does NOT make D3 (cholecalciferol) naturally. It makes D2 (ergocalciferol), which is similar, but definitely not the same. In theory, it is possible to engineer yeast to make D3, but definitely not without the final organism being GM.”

    What do you think about it? Just want to know your thoughts because MegaFood says they are organic and non-GMO. And I also do not now if I should worry about it being D2 though final product is D3.

  30. Kate says

    Hello Maia,

    Do you recommend any multivitamins brands for children? As the kids are picky eaters sometimes I’m worried if they’re getting all the vitamins

  31. Ayesha says

    Hey,
    I really like your website. I appreciate your hard work. I want to know how is actif brand prenatal, it is vegetarian and organic.
    Thankyou

  32. KM101213 says

    The MTHFR mutation is much more than just not being able to process synthetic folic acid. Certain synthetic B vitamins, in general, cannot be processed either. There is a rabbit hole of information about MTHFR, it is a lot to understand and I think it would actually be super helpful to have a link to more info or even a disclaimer about not knowing all the ins and outs of it. That being said, I was so excited to see some awareness about the MTHFR in a supplement guide! Thanks!

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