The best prenatal vitamins for pregnancy and postpartum

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No matter where you find yourself in your pregnancy journey — trying to conceive, a recent positive test, well into your pregnancy or post-partum — getting adequate amounts of necessary vitamins and minerals means setting you and baby up for the greatest success along the way. Prenatal vitamins are the source of these many minerals; in capsule, softgel and gummy form, they’re comprised of a bevy of ingredients aimed at supporting your wellbeing and baby’s development. With loads of options on the market, choosing a best-fit vitamin can seem daunting — especially when it can play such a vital role in both mom and baby’s health and wellbeing.

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“When it comes to choosing a prenatal, it’s all about choosing a supplement that pairs well with a healthy, balanced diet to optimize your nutrition and overall wellbeing while trying to conceive, throughout pregnancy and in postpartum.” says Dr. Georgia Lefas, MD, MSc, FRCSC, who practices obstetrics and gynecology in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

“In Canada, we focus on pregnant people getting sufficient folic acid, B vitamins, iron and omega-3s through their diet and prenatal vitamins.” Dr. Lefas says.

While Dr. Lefas doesn’t suggest one specific product over another, she notes a great starting point for choosing a prenatal vitamin is the shortlist of “…certain prenatals that fit evidence-based parameters on the SOGC website.”

Between our conversation with Dr. Lefas, personal preferences shared by previous users, articles backed by expert insight and customer reviews on sites like Amazon and Well.ca, we’ve rounded up a shortlist of the best prenatals to support (mostly*) any pregnancy.

*Editor’s note: we say ‘mostly’ as while we share expert insights, it’s best to always double-check with your doctor or maternity care provider to ensure your choice in prenatal is comprehensive enough for your personal needs. While this round-up is intended to offer a multitude of options and is backed by the insight of a practicing OB, taking direct advice from your healthcare provider is the most reliable means of ensuring you get the best-fit product for you and your pregnancy.

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Summary of the best prenatal vitamins

Overall: Thorne Basic Prenatal
Vegan: Bird&Be The Essentials
Value: Centrum Prenatal + DHA
Gummy: Smarty Pants
For nausea: Bird&Be Gentle Prenatal Formula

The best prenatals, explained

Overall: Thorne Basic Prenatal

Key specs:

• 90 capsules per bottle
• Dose: one capsule, two times daily with food
• Free from: gluten, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, dairy, yeast, soy, fish, or shellfish
• Internally tested four times by Thorne’s dedicated testing lab

Why buy: It’s simple to take, easy on your body and designed with thoughtful consideration to the pregnancy and postpartum experience. When it comes to a high-quality prenatal, this one packs a powerful punch in helping you optimize your nutrition and health during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Intentionally made with ‘the most tissue ready and absorbable forms of nutrients’, Thorne’s Basic Prenatal is easier on the stomach than some of its competitors (chalk it up to the vitamins C, B6 and K), even with its inclusion of iron (known to upset some stomachs).

Fine print: The nutrient blend does not include DHA. You may want to add one to your routine.
Price: $37.50
Where to buy: Well.ca | Amazon 

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Vegan: Bird&Be The Essentials

Key specs:

• Individual sachets – 30 daily packets in one monthly box
• Dose: take one complete packet, once a day, with food
• Free of animal products and gluten
• Third-party tested, GMP Certified, formulated and fabricated in Canada

Why buy: Making complete nutrition possible and as easy to access as you can imagine, the Bird&Be Essential Prenatal is comprised of everything you need, nothing you don’t. Bird&Be products are proudly formulated by a team of reproductive endocrinologists and naturopathic doctors dedicated to simple-to-take and powerfully comprehensive products. With two Daily Essentials and one Algae Oil DHA capsule in each daily convenience pack, you can say goodbye to multiple vitamin bottles rattling around your closet, and say hello to all the pills you need in one place, every day.

Fine print: The Choline included in this supplement is limited (33 per cent of the suggested daily intake), so you may want to add a supplement to optimize your Choline intake.
Price: $41.40/month, or $46.00 one-time purchase
Where to buy: Bird&Be

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Value: Centrum Prenatal + DHA

Key specs:

• 60 capsules and 60 DHA softgels per bottle (2-month supply)
• How to take: one tablet and one softgel daily with food
• Certified by Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Canada

Why buy: A combo-pack of both a prenatal and DHA softgel, Centrum Prenatal + DHA provides complete pre-, during-, and post-pregnancy vitamin supplementation for pregnant people and babies at every stage of their growth. Certified by and bearing the SOGC seal of approval, these vitamins have been independently reviewed and proved to provide evidence of safety and efficacy, meaning it’s stamped as safe and effective by medical professionals associated with a ‘trusted voice in women’s healthcare’.

Fine print: Some users report challenges with the DHA capsule both due to its size and smell.
Price: $28.00 / one combo-pack (60 prenatal capsules and 60 DHA softgels)
Where to buy: Amazon

Gummy: Smarty Pants

Key specs:

• Bottle of 120 gummies
• Dose: Four gummies daily, taken with or without food
• Non-GMO. Free of milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nut allergens, fish allergens, shellfish, soy, gluten and wheat. No synthetic colours or artificial sweeteners/flavours.
• Third-party lab tested

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Why buy: A solution for individuals having a hard time taking traditional pills, gummy vitamins offer a more manageable medium to make sure you and your baby are getting the essential nutrients needed for a healthy pregnancy. The Smarty Pants Prenatal Formula Gummy Vitamins are one of the most comprehensive formulations on the market, well-liked by health practitioners and pregnant people for their taste and how easy they are on the stomach.

Fine print: These do not contain iron or calcium (key reasons they’re easier on the stomach). Consult with your care provider(s) to see if these are a good option for you and if/how you may supplement those essential ingredients.
Price: $45.00 to $50.00 for 120 gummies
Where to buy: Amazon | Well.ca | Walmart

For nausea: Bird&Be Gentle Prenatal

Key specs:

• Individual sachets – 30 daily packets per order
• How to take: take one complete packet, once a day, with food
• Free from: animal products, gluten
• Third-party tested, GMP Certified

Why buy: For those affected by significant nausea in the early days (or all throughout) of pregnancy, keeping most food down — let alone vitamins or other supplements — can be an incredible challenge. Finding a vitamin that can stay down and ensure you and your baby get the nutrients you both need matters, which is what Bird&Be’s Gentle Prenatal Vitamin is celebrated for. By stripping this vitamin down to the essentials (namely by removing iron), they’re easier on the stomach while still giving expectant folks the most important mineral support until they can stomach more supplements further along in pregnancy.

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Fine print: Pills are delivered in individually wrapped sachets where the waste may be undesirable for some.
Price: $34.20/month OR $38.00 one-time order (30 days)
Where to buy: Bird&Be

Hot tips and takes

• A note from Dr.Lefas: the most important time to take folic acid or folate is in pre-conception, as the first 4-6 weeks of a fetus’s development is where neural tube development happens, and where there’s the highest risk of defect. Taking prenatals while trying to conceive and continuing them into early — and ongoing — pregnancy can support your body with these essential nutrients when it matters most.
• Take your prenatals on a full stomach — either with your dinner or at the end of the day before bed. A full stomach can make these nutrient-dense pills or gummies a touch easier to digest if you’re somewhat sensitive to them.
• Really struggling with nausea? Dr. Lefas suggests her patients afflicted with nausea and vomiting take only folic acid while they’re in trenches. As we noted before, consult with your care providers to see how they advise you to supplement if you’re experiencing intense nausea.
• Beyond the primary ingredients that Canadian doctors focus on (folate/folic acid, B vitamins, iron and omega-3 fatty acids (DHAs)), countries like the USA suggest extra supplementation of other minerals like calcium and choline. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) FAQ page about Nutrition During Pregnancy offers comprehensive insight into each suggested vitamin and mineral.
• Not taking your vitamins? Consider trying out habit stacking: where you attach (or ‘stack’) a new behaviour onto an existing one. Perhaps you stack your prenatal vitamins and supplements with brushing your teeth before bed, taking them before you start or after you’re done.

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