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Half Of Prenatal Vitamins Failed Vital Tests: Are Yours Safe And Effective?

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One of the first steps for most women after confirming a pregnancy is to purchase prenatal vitamins.

The hard part is picking which ones! There are gummies (which may be easier to swallow if you have all-day sickness but usually lack important minerals, including iron), capsules, and tablets. There are brand names and generics, and you can buy them over the counter or get a prescription.

The bad news? No matter which you pick, they may not have what your body needs to help grow a baby.

Study Finds Dozens Of Prenatal Vitamins Lacking

A new study examined 47 brands of prenatal vitamins — 15 of which were available by prescription only.

Out of those, they found that most didn’t even list choline and iodine, two of the most essential nutrients for fetal development, and only five actually had correct amounts of choline that matched the label’s claim. Only four brands both included iodine and had the correct amount stated on the label.

Worse than lacking essential nutrients, some of the pills even contained dangerous substances. According to Science Daily:

“Specifically, seven products had too much arsenic, two had too much lead and 13 had too much cadmium, all above the purity limits set by the U.S. Pharmacopeia. Exposure to these heavy metals in pregnancy has been associated with adverse birth outcomes.”

The Ongoing Problem Of Oversight In Supplements

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The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring that most things you eat, drink, or take as medication are safe and contain what they claim to contain.

However, vitamins and supplements that don’t make specific health claims fall outside their purview. The problem with this lack of oversight is ongoing. As previously discussed, the melatonin supplements you buy to help your child sleep often don’t contain the amounts claimed, and some supplements have worse problems.

A report from Harvard Medical School cites multiple studies that have found various products sold as dietary supplements to have inaccurate labels. Some completely lack the purported active ingredient, and some have only a fraction of, or many times, the amount claimed on the label. Still, others have contaminants that could cause serious complications. For example, one test of dietary supplements found a weight loss drug that had been taken off the market due to its link to heart attacks and stroke, steroids, and prescription sexual enhancement drugs in hundreds of supplement products that failed to disclose those ingredients.

The High Risks Of Supplements In Pregnancy

This all highlights that there is significant potential for harm from untested supplements, especially for anyone who has pre-existing medical conditions, particularly during pregnancy.

Also, as previously noted, even prescription prenatal pills are not exempt from these problems, meaning that even if you’re taking the exact supplements your doctor selected for you, they could still lack necessary nutrients or contain unsafe levels of other ingredients. (By the way — in the new study, not one of the prescription products included choline in its nutrition label.)

That means that even a mom who is doing everything exactly “right” during her pregnancy could be unwittingly putting her baby’s health and well-being in danger simply by trusting that prenatal vitamins contained the nutrients they claimed.

What Can A Mom Do To Make Sure Her Prenatal Vitamins Are Safe & Effective?

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Asking your doctor is a good start, but remember that doctors are typically patient-focused and can’t always keep up with the steady stream of reports on the near-infinite variety of supplements on the market.

Fortunately, there are third-party organizations that test and verify supplement ingredients. Two that have earned high levels of trust are the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and NSF International, which are accredited by the International Organization of Standardization and the World Health Organization (WHO), respectively.

The USP has a dietary supplement verification program. You can check that they’ve verified the contents of a product by searching for it on their Quality Supplements site or by checking the bottle for their seal, a green and gold circle and oval reading “USP Dietary Supplement Verified.”

The NSF has a website where you can find all the products they’ve tested, from dietary supplements to drinking water.

What If You Think You’ve Already Consumed A Dangerous Product?

If you have reason to believe that a supplement you’ve already used may contain dangerous ingredients, stop using it immediately and evaluate your current situation.

In most cases, speaking to your doctor at your next appointment or reaching out to their office between appointments may be sufficient, but if you feel there may be a more immediate concern, contact emergency services and/or Poison Control or your local similar agency. In the U.S., Poison Control can be reached at 1-800-222-1222 or through their website.

They are happy to answer questions.

Do not hesitate to call 911 or the relevant emergency system in your area in a medical emergency.


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