“And why can’t you take chewable children’s vitamins? Take what you need to get the prenatal dose.”
Not a good idea. First off, for those needing a chewable prenatal, ask your doctor about Natachew. Insurance doesn’t cover it and its a bit pricey. Second, You generally cant substitute the proper level with a children’s vitamin and here is one example why. Taking as an example the Kiddiemax multivite. As you would take more than one tablet to get the recommended prenatal level of say….zinc (15mg) you would overdose on vitamin E, known to be teratogenic and can cause CNS abnormalities. Of course that’s an extreme example, but it does illustrate that people should not try to substitute or experiment with vitamin intake during pregnancy. Vitamin E isn’t the only one to be detrimental when taken in high doses. This is why tablets labeled pre-natal, have specific upgrades of some things (folate/folic acid) and cuts down other things by almost by a third (vitamin E). So that in one tab you get the optimal (and proper) mix of vit/minerals.