Nutrition: The Springboard to a Successful Pregnancy

By Andrea Bartels CNP NNCP RNT Registered Nutritional Therapist 03 Apr 2024

Nutrition: The Springboard to a Successful Pregnancy

Supplementing a well-balanced diet with additional vitamins and minerals can help you get all the nutrients essential for a healthy pregnancy. Let’s look at how some of these nutrients can support your well-being as well as the healthy development of your baby. 

Vitamin B6

Morning sickness can be really debilitating for an expectant mother. Not only is it uncomfortable---the nausea and vomiting make it especially important to stay well-hydrated and well-nourished.  Fortunately, it turns out that supplementation of therapeutic levels of Vitamin B6 has been shown to reduce the occurrence of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Vitamin B6 is an essential nutrient, so it’s helping the body with protein synthesis, red blood cell formation and many other functions at the same time. 

Each capsule of Pure Lab’s Slow Release BioActive B6 contains 50 milligrams of pyridoxal-5-phosphate-- a biologically active form of B6 that’s like a fully-charged battery. Just one or two capsules daily are needed because the product is formulated to maintain blood levels for about 4 to 5 hours—which is about twice as long as standard formulations. This is valuable for water-soluble nutrients like the B vitamins since there’s no way for the body to store them. 

Iron

During pregnancy, your iron requirements will increase a whopping 3 times that of a non-pregnant female, as blood volume doubles to share with the growing fetus and placenta. Iron plays a key role in making sure your red blood cells can transport oxygen to the body’s cells. Without enough iron, anemia develops, leaving you tired, with decreased stamina and strength. 

It's important to keep iron levels topped up while pregnant because women who develop prenatal anemia may have an increased risk of pregnancy-related and delivery-related complications.  In expectant moms, iron-deficiency can manifest as fatigue, heart palpitations, and sleep difficulties that include Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). In fact, a 2018 study that examined the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in both pregnant and non-pregnant women who had restless leg syndrome discovered that pregnant women with RLS were more often anemic than those without RLS.  

These are some of the reasons why it’s important to have your ferritin levels tested early in your pregnancy, but periodically throughout the gestation process as well. Getting a head start on your iron levels early will be easier than trying to top it up from a deficient state right before or after childbirth. 

Getting enough iron from the diet to meet pregnancy requirements can be challenging.  Vegetarian sources of iron are more difficult to absorb because they’re non-heme sources. Although beef liver contains high amounts of heme (or blood-bound) iron, most health agencies recommend limiting intake of red meats.   

Meanwhile, commonly prescribed prenatal multis contain inorganic iron salts which are poorly absorbed, contributing to nausea and constipation. Choose a high-quality iron supplement like Pure Lab Vitamins’ Carbonyl Iron. This is an energy-enhancing, metallic iron that’s formulated to be bowel-friendly, yet has an absorption rate far superior to other iron compounds. Pure Lab’s Carbonyl Iron contains 22.5 milligrams of elemental iron and 100 milligrams of vitamin C per capsule. Vitamin C is a well-known iron-absorption-enhancer that contributes necessary acidity to the iron absorption process. Because carbonyl iron so well absorbed, it doesn’t carry the risk of unpleasant nausea and constipation that other iron supplements are famous for. 

Folic Acid

To be clear, females and males both need folate for healthy cell division---but this nutrient has a particular function in early pregnancy that is essential for fetal development.  Folate ensures the proper closure of the neural tube in the fetus. This is a critical stage of brain development that should be completed within 28 days after conception. So it’s important to supplement folate in the form of folic acid by all women who could become pregnant as soon as they intend to conceive. 

Folate in food and folic acid in supplements still need conversion into a biologically active form by the liver to be fully useful to the body. And for genetic reasons, some of us are not great at doing this, in which case we may not be getting the full benefits of the vitamin.  That’s why Pure Lab’s Slow Release BioActive Folic acid contains 1 milligram of the biologically active form of folic acid, 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate. This is like a fully charged battery, ready to perform its important metabolic work. We made it a slow-release formulation to provide longer lasting benefits---for up to twice as long as your average folic acid supplement.   

Zinc

The rapid growth that occurs during gestation requires a lot of zinc. This mineral is key for the healthy formation of the baby’s heart, lungs, brain, urogenital system and skeletal system. It’s also nutrient that’s essential for achieving a full-term pregnancy and delivery. Yet another fact to consider is that zinc status may also be a predictor of your child’s growth and immunity as a newborn.  

The World Health Organization estimates that 1/3 of the world’s population is zinc deficient, suggesting many of us aren’t getting enough from our diets. We also know that stress uses up zinc faster, and that it can be lost through perspiration. 

Supplementing zinc during pregnancy via a high-quality amino-acid chelated form like zinc glycinate can be an easy way to maintain zinc levels.  Pure Lab’s Zinc Glycinate capsules contain 23 milligrams of elemental zinc bound to glycine, for superior bioavailability. The product is stomach-friendly and copper-free, which offers more flexible dosing. 

Ladies, it's never too early to top up your nutrition.  The nutrients discussed here are safe and beneficial to use before conception, as well as for the duration of a pregnancy. So keep taking them throughout the gestation period unless you’ve been advised otherwise by your obstetrician.   

References 

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American Society of Anesthesiologists. Women with anemia twice as likely to need transfusion after cesarean delivery. Accessed Apr.28^th 2021. 

Broughan JM, Martin D, Higgins T, et al. Prevalence of neural tube defects in England prior to the mandatory fortification of non-wholemeal wheat flour with folic acid: a population-based cohort study. Arch Dis Child. 2024;109(2):106-112. Published 2024 Jan 22. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2023-325856 

Chaffee BW, King JC. Effect of zinc supplementation on pregnancy and infant outcomes: a systematic review. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2012;26 Suppl 1(0 1):118-137.  

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Jayawardena R, Majeed S, Sooriyaarachchi P, Abeywarne U, Ranaweera P. The effects of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) supplementation in nausea and vomiting during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2023;308(4):1075-1084.  

Mayo Clinic. “Morning Sickness.” Retrieved online March 25, 2024. 

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Office of Dietary Supplements.  “Vitamin B6: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.” National Institutes of Health. Retrieved online March 25, 2024. 

Office of Dietary Supplements. “Iron: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.” National Institutes of Health. Retrieved online March 25, 2024. 

Sahakian V, Rouse D, Sipes S, Rose N, Niebyl J. Vitamin B6 is effective therapy for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study. Obstet Gynecol. 1991;78(1):33-36. 

Shakur YA, Rogenstein C, Hartman-Craven B, Tarasuk V, O'Connor DL. How much folate is in Canadian fortified products 10 years after mandated fortification? Can J Public Health. 2009;100(4):281-284. 

Telarovi? S, ?ondi? L. Frequency of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant and non-pregnant women suffering from restless legs syndrome. Hematology. 2019;24(1):263-267.  

Terrin G, Berni Canani R, Di Chiara M, et al. Zinc in Early Life: A Key Element in the Fetus and Preterm Neonate. Nutrients. 2015;7(12):10427-10446. Published 2015 Dec 11.  

World Health Organization. “Anaemia: Overview”. Accessed online March 28, 2024. 

World Health Organization. “Cancer: Carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat.” 26 October 2015. Accessed online March 28, 2024.