Low or No Iron Prenatal Vitamins

Updated on January 05, 2011
K.W. asks from Madison, WI
17 answers

Hi all. Question on prenatal vitamins. I am looking for a brand that has no or low iron, as I am iron "sufficient" and would like to reduce some of the stomach problems from the higher iron supplements. Any ideas would be great! I've tried Whole Foods, Walgreens and the internet, but no luck. Wondering if it will require a prescription...

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone! I had forgotten about GNC and drugstore.com (must be "mommy brain"). Found some great options and checked out a lot of the brands you suggested. Thanks again!

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T.C.

answers from Grand Forks on

K.,

I to need to take a low or no iron prenatal vit as well. I found a brand GNC Prenatal Vitamins without iron. I buy it in bulk like 3 or 4 through drugstore.com for like 40 dollars or so with shipping and handling. These have worked good for me. Very gentle on the stomach. Hope this helps.

T.

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A.F.

answers from St. Cloud on

Hi K.! I would suggest that you try a "whole food" supplement like Greens First (it does come in pill form), Juice Plus, or Superfood. It is not imperative to take a "pre-natal". If you are sufficient in iron than I would not even worry about the label saying pre-natal. The only concern is folic acid and you should be getting about 400mg per day. If you took one of the supplements listed above you would get the recommended amount. Remember to ask your Dr. what dose of folic acid is recommended. It is possible to overdo it.
I also recommend taking a fish oil supplement (comes in pill form). I recommend Nordic Naturals.
Congratulations!

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C.T.

answers from Milwaukee on

I was pregnant in 2006 and found prenatals with no iron at the GNC store in New Berlin on Mooreland and National. Maybe they still carry them. You could also try the Health Hut. I know there is one on Hwy 100 and Greenfield, and one in Hales Corners. One other thought though, I am currently taking the Target brand regular prenatal vitamins with the iron in them and I have not gotten sick from them. Hope this helps!

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J.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

With my first pregnancy, my stomach couldn't handle regular prenatal vitamins so my OB told me to take Women's One A Day and an extra 400mg folic acid tablet. I did fine with that.
With my current pregnancy, I couldn't even handle Women's One A Day so my OB had me taking Flintstones vitamins (the gummies are the best!).
Hope this gives you some ideas....

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K.L.

answers from St. Cloud on

I couldn't handle prescription prenatals either, so I used 2 Flinstone Complete vitamins daily and continued throughout the time I was breastfeeding. They worked so much better for my stomach. The only morning sickness I had was from the prescription prenatals. Once I was off those and on Flinstones complete everything was great. Best of luck to you.

L.O.

answers from Minneapolis on

First of all CONGRATS on your pregnancy!
Reliv is known for its patented synergistic formula in nutrition. Reliv is a food science company versus vitamin company so you would get a whole lot more than the average vitamin. You can check out www.reliv.com but just an FYI, the secret behind the products is the blend - not the individual amounts.
I used this as my pre-natal vitamin and am amazed at how much better I felt over the 1st 2 pregnancies.
Blessings,
L.
###-###-####

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L.D.

answers from Minneapolis on

I don't think you will find a low iron PRENATAL vitamin. Iron is extremely important for a developing baby's brain and often plumets in the middle of the pregnancy. I always have good levels and did through the first and begining of second tri-mester. Then it dropped so I took an extra iron supplement and it still dropped. I ended up taking 2 iron pills plus a prenatal.

Try taking the vitamin with food or right before bed. If that doesn' help, take half a vitamin 2 times a day. If you do go with decreased iron make your doctor check your hemoglobin at least once a month.

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L.G.

answers from Minneapolis on

I took New Chapter Organics Perfect Prenatal. I purchased them online from Christine's Cleanse Corner. They're a bit expensive: about $55 per bottle, but the iron is pretty low. I didn't save a bottle, but I think the RDA of Iron is about 18% or so. Don't quote me on that. Check it out online. I can tell you from personal experience that this vitamin is very easy on the stomach. On the bottle it says that you can have it on an empty stomach, and it's true! I loved it. It's a whole food vitamin. One bottle lasts a little over a month, I think.

Now I've gone a cheaper route by drinking my vitamins in powdered form. I buy powdered herbs, etc. from AmeriHerb out of Ames, IA. I mix one oz. each of the following 11 powders: beet root, wheat grass, nutritional yeast, lemon peel, orange peel, spirulina, chlorella, alfalfa, spinach leaf, rosehips, and barley grass. I got the "recipe" from a nutritionist who tells me that the mixture contains everything you need. I bought some glass canning jars (quart size) for storing the leftovers, which will last over a year. They don't spoil for a very very long time, if ever. The whole shipment cost slightly over $100. Well worth it. (Ameriherb's phone # is 1-800-267-6141. They open at 8:00 AM. Call early if you want service. They tend to get very busy. Perhaps just ask them for a catalog the first time.)

One last thing: my midwife told me that if you're eating a whole foods diet, you shouldn't really need a prenatal. (I took them anyway.) She also said that you can brew alfalfa tea (or even take an alfalfa supplement....super cost-effective!) and that is perfectly fine as a prenatal. She says alfalfa has so much nutritional value that it's great as a prenatal vitamin. I ordered red raspberry leaf, nettle leaf, and alfalfa from Ameriherb and made myself a prenatal tea by steeping equal parts of it overnight and then straining the herbs out and refrigerating the rest. It makes a great iced tea! Raspberry leaf tones the uterus, nettle aids circulation (is a source of iron too) and alfalfa provides calcium, etc.

Enjoy your pregnancy!

P.S. I wanted to add that you most likely will not become iron deficient later in your pregnancy. The reason doctors end up telling women that they're becoming anemic is because of all the fluids you retain later on. I'm not great at explaining it, but you can look up the research of Dr. Michel Odent (Google "Primal Health" and his name and you should find it), or you can read two of his books: The Farmer and the Obstetrician and Birth Reborn. I loved those two books!

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S.F.

answers from Waterloo on

You may be iron sufficient now, but as the baby develops, the baby takes this from you and eventually you are likely to become deficient. Plus the baby needs it. That is why it is in all the prenatal pills. Have you tried to take the prenatal right before bed. This is what I do and I don't have any problems with it upsetting my stomach.

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S.H.

answers from Green Bay on

Might try Men's vitamins or some vitamins do not upset your stomach because of the way they are formulated. My company has some of those, but you can only get them as a member. Feel free to contact me,
S.

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K.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

My doctor just had me stay on my regular vitamin and add extra folic acid. We both were very healthy throughout!

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B.J.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hi K.
I'm a wellness coach.
Many of my colleagues use vitamins from our Int. Nutrition company for their prenatal vitamins. They are pharm. grade, water sol so quick dissolve, taken 3x/day for best absorption and have 2mg iron in them. Their pregnancies are exceptional as far as health- in fact one of our major Docs is an OB doc.
If you want to know more, email me with momsource in the subject line and I"ll send you more info.
I can't use this avenue to promote with sites.
About me: 48 yo med. prof, mom to 8 yo twin girls.

B. j ____@____.com

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S.S.

answers from Omaha on

Prenate's made me sick also- blah! I actually ate jalepeno's to counter act the morning sickness- until I got wise enough to get off of them and take my regular vitamins. And I took folic acid for 2 years before I got pregnant and continued those through out the pregnancy. We are both fine- and I didnt' even feed my son iron formula- and he is still fine :)

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B.H.

answers from St. Cloud on

Look at Flinstone's chewables labels. I think taking two of them is one prenatal vitamin. They don't taste bad and they come in an iron form. I never had a problem with those making me sick even though the other ones I did get sick.

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C.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

I can't tolerate multivitamins because of the iron. Both my regular dr and ob dr's have told me to take Flinstone vitamins. The ones that say complete have iron in them and do the same to me, besides not tasting great. My dr recommended the Flinstones with vitamin C. If you need some iron my dr also said I could take one Flinstones with C and one Flinstones with iron.

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J.J.

answers from Minneapolis on

I did some kids chewable for my tummy, that's a good idea. Definitely add the Folic Acid! whole foods sells in a 400mg Also I broke my supplements up. These all come in liquid forms that I would mix in juice (orange or apple for vitamin C) one at a time throughout the day, or sometimes a few together- Calcium Magnesium supplement, Chlorophyl, liquid minerals, acidophilus (capsule/or chewable), vitamin E (capsule or tablet), flax oil or omega 3 oil (liquid or capsule). Also, it is my impression that as baby grows bigger and you are making more tissue and fluid your body will use and need more iron... even if you are sufficient now...good to have it in there- your body takes 30 days to produce iron so slow and steady is better than trying to cram it in at the end- an easily digestible form I found for me (also a lot of B vit) was Floradex's Iron and Herbs.
Good Diet did a lot for me, I could never take a prenatal vitamin until midway through the pregnancy and we were just fine!
Your body (nature) is SMART. Listen to it and your baby, you know what is best for you guys.

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K.C.

answers from Boston on

The gummy vitamins on Drugstore.com don't have iron.

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