Medical expert of the article
New publications
Vitamins for pregnant women: more about A and B
Last reviewed: 20.10.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Vitamins A and B (and especially group B) take a very active part in the fate of a pregnant woman. In particular, they activate the process of digestion, regulate metabolic processes, help the skin look healthier and more beautiful. And, of course, give the chance to develop correctly to the kid. Let's talk in more detail about these vitamins useful for the mother and baby.
Vitamin A and the health of a pregnant woman
Retinol, that is, vitamin A, is very important for the future mother and her baby. It helps to form a visual pigment (that is, it ensures the quality of vision), helps to develop properly nails, teeth and actively participates in the development of bone tissue.
If it were not for vitamin A, the development of the placenta, from which the baby takes nutrients, would be simply impossible. With his help, mothers and children also have blood corpuscles - erythrocytes. Vitamin A helps the development of soft tissues, and it also has the beneficial property of protecting the skin from external influences - making it healthier and stronger, less vulnerable to infections.
If it were not for vitamin A, the hair of a pregnant woman would be brittle, dull (which happens in those pregnant women who do not care about their vitamin diet).
Where can I get vitamin A?
From butter, cottage cheese, fish oil, eggs, intestines (liver, kidneys), fruits, vegetables, green salads, dill, parsley, spices.
Still sources of vitamin A - mountain ash, apricots, sweet cherries, dog rose, currant, salad pepper
B vitamins and the health of a pregnant woman
B vitamins and women's health are the most compatible things in the world. Potmou that without this vitamin many of the processes in the life of the future mother and her baby will be simply substandard. But group B includes several vitamins, and each of them has its own name and serial number.
Vitamin B1 and its effect on pregnancy
Vitamin B1, or in other words, thiamine, controls the absorption of carbohydrates. This is a very important vitamin, which helps a pregnant woman to normally transfer her condition. With a lack of thiamine, the expectant mother experiences toxicosis, it is very difficult for her to bear a child.
If vitamin B1 is enough, then the pregnant woman has a good appetite - this vitamin promotes its activation. And it also controls and activates the work of the nervous system, the heart, the state of the vessels, is responsible for the speed and quality of the blood flow.
Thanks to vitamin B1, pregnant women will not have beriberi and pressure will not decrease (with hypotension).
Where to get B1?
From cereals, first of all: buckwheat, oats, wheat, and also beans.
Vitamin B1 is abundant in carrots, radishes, rosehips, nuts, beets, cabbage, spinach, as well as in products such as fish and meat. And more in yeast and milk.
Vitamin B2 and its effect on pregnancy
Vitamin B2 is also called riboflavin. This vitamin helps the iron better assimilate, control and activate the work of the liver, as well as the lungs, improving the quality of breathing, adjusts metabolic processes: fatty, carbohydrate and other types.
Vitamin B2 helps the baby to grow quickly and qualitatively. It is also called vitamin growth. It helps the child to form normally, controlling the growth processes of the skeleton, muscles, the work of the respiratory system.
Where to get vitamin B2?
You need to take it from the liver, leafy green salads, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, as well as milk and eggs. A good source of vitamin B2 - beans, yeast, apricots.
Vitamin B3 and its effect on pregnancy
Vitamin B3 is also called nicotinic acid or niacin, as well as vitamin PP. It has a very good effect on oxidative processes in the body, participates in the formation of proteins, the metabolism of fats, carbohydrate metabolism, and also a good helper for the gastrointestinal tract.
Thanks to vitamin B3, bad cholesterol is excreted from the body, like toxins. Thanks to this vitamin, blood pressure is normalized in pregnant women, and blood flow also works well.
As for the work of the gastrointestinal tract, vitamin B3 helps to establish the production of gastric juice.
The liver thanks to this vitamin works more actively.
The heart and blood vessels, through vitamin B3, strengthen and actively influence the work of the whole organism.
Where can I get vitamin B3?
From meat, liver, eggs, milk and dairy products, flour (only coarse grinding), as well as buckwheat, mushrooms, legumes.
This is important for a pregnant woman
Know, pregnant women, that to use the products necessary for health a little. They still need to be cooked correctly.
Berries, fruits and vegetables should be eaten raw, with rare exceptions (except potatoes, for example).
In salads for better assimilation of fat-soluble vitamins, it is best to add vegetable oils. It should be remembered that fat-soluble vitamins and carrots without fat will not be absorbed.
As for the water in which you cooked meat or vegetables, it is better not to pour the broth - when cooking, the maximum of vitamins and nutrients passes (more than a third).
It is very good to cook vegetables for a couple - so there are more useful substances in them - only 25% is destroyed.
Vitamins for pregnant women from cereals
And what did you think, there was no vitamins in the cereal? There are, and in good volumes. What are porridges made of? Of cereals. It is in them there are many useful substances. Especially if the cereals are whole-grain and not processed. This is especially true of rice. But in order to keep this maximum of useful substances, it is important to cook porridge on the water, and not on milk. And add milk and butter (cream or olive) 5 minutes before the end of cooking.
Kasha can not only boil, but also steamed with boiling water. Put the washed grain in a pot or saucepan, fill it with boiling water and cover with a lid. You can still wrap it with a towel. Let it stand and the porridge will come. So in the croup will be more vitamins and other nutrients.
Keep your health and the health of your future baby with the help of nutrients and be happy, future moms!