Best organic prenatal vitamin
Amazon
New Chapter Perfect Prenatal Multivitamin has all the nutrients you need in a prenatal, sourced from organic, whole foods.
Pros: High-quality, specialized nutrition formulated from whole food sources
Cons: Serving is three pills per day; synthetic folate; brand promotes unverified claims surrounding topics like breastfeeding which may or may not be true.
Like all good prenatals, New Chapter’s Perfect Prenatal Multivitamin contains folic acid, iron, calcium, vitamin A, B-complex, C, D, zinc, and omega-3-fish oil. But uniquely, it sources ingredients from organic, whole foods, which can be important to people who prioritize an organic, whole-foods diet.
The prenatal is also fermented — a component that, in theory, makes the nutrients more bioavailable and absorbable, Miranda Hammer, R.D., a dietician who lists her practice on Robyn, a database for prenatal practitioner, told Insider.
The New Chapter Perfect Prenatal Multivitamin is also one of Dr. Ross’s favorite brands. One of our reviewers took these vitamins every day for a month, and here’s what she loved: Even though she wasn’t pregnant at the time — just trying to conceive — she was still particularly prone to nausea. Taking pills in the morning, taking pills on an empty stomach, or just about anything triggered her nausea.
However, New Chapter Perfect Prenatal Multivitamins are taken in three small doses throughout the day, rather than one big pill all at once. Our reviewer thinks breaking up the ingredients into smaller, more manageable doses really helped stave off her nausea.
Some of the doctors quoted in this piece agree: Taking medications before you go to bed could also help stave off nausea, Dr. Jill Rabin, vice chair of education and development of OB-GYN at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center told Insider. “If you have any nausea, you may be sleeping through it.”
Of course, the fact that you need to remember to take them three times a day could be a drawback for some. (This is always why it’s always important to make sure you’re reading the serving size of a vitamin; some prenatal vitamins have a serving size of one pill while some are three or four and you might not be getting everything you need if you aren’t taking the full serving.)
New Chapter’s prenatal also includes methylated folate (MTHF), which is a more bioavailable form of folate. “Folic acid has to go through a conversion process in the body in order for it to be utilized. Some individuals have a genetic mutation that impedes the conversion process, so the methylated folate is the better-utilized form,” says Hammer.
“What is truly essential is making sure the supplements are third-party tested,” she added. This vitamin is NSF-certified and third-party tested.
One note: A 2020 analysis from Consumer Labs did find that New Chapter Perfect Prenatal had slightly less vitamin A and slightly more iodine than listed on the label. Many staple healthy foods (including sweet potatoes, spinach, carrots, peppers, and dairy like Greek yogurt) are rich in vitamin A so slightly less in your vitamin will most likely be compensated if you’re focused on a whole-foods, organic diet as this category denotes.
It’s better to have less vitamin A than too much, as it’s not water-soluble so extra can be stored in the body, Cardaci pointed out. (In rare instances, this can cause toxicity, she added.)
The analysis also found the Perfect Prenatal had more iron than listed, although they simultaneously point to a 2019 report in JAMA Open that showed even with taking supplements, 36% of pregnant women still get too little iron, so that may not be a bad thing (unless you’re experiencing nausea).
$33.78 from The Vitamin Shoppe
Originally $44.99Save 25%
$27.17 from Amazon
