List of the Best Prenatal Vitamins & Pregnancy Supplements

Whether your first pregnancy, second, seventh, or just trying to maintain healthy breast milk after baby is born, every woman is looking for the best prenatal vitamins and natural, safe pregnancy supplements. It is important to give your body the best to keep you healthy as well as your growing baby. So, come take a peek in my medicine cabinet to see what prenatal vitamins I take, what supplements I use during pregnancy, and what all-natural remedies I keep on hand for pregnancy discomforts.

Affiliate links included for your convenience. Thank you for supporting our family! As always, I am not a doctor, nurse, or in the medical field. All posts are informative, based off of my experience in labor and birth, with my care providers, and on the Bradley classes that I attended.  Please make informed decisions with your doctor, midwife, and/or any other care providers.

List of 15+ of the Best Prenatal Vitamins, Pregnancy Supplements, and Natural Remedies during Pregnancy

Please note that I am not a doctor, physician, or medical practitioner of any kind. I am an avid researcher and lover of all things natural, non-synthetic, and healthy. This list, while it aligns with doctor recommendations from my last pregnancy and midwife recommendations from this pregnancy is a guide. Please consult your health care provider in terms of what is right for you and your baby.

Beef Liver/Organ supplements

I didn’t use to take beef liver supplements. I started in later pregnancies and noticed that I felt so much better. It is a great naturally occurring source of B vitamins and liver is always recommended during pregnancy, but rarely did I find it palatable while expecting.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil

This is a great non-synthetic way to get good nutrition and a source of Vitamin A, D, and Omega fatty acids during pregnancy. Plus in pill form it doesn’t taste and with Green Pastures brand I have never even had fishy burps!

A Whole Foods Prenatal Vitamin

A whole foods vitamin is one made from fresh food compounds and is not a  synthetic, laboratory-made version. So if everything on the bottle lists an ingredient and then as “as …” then it is typically a cheaper and synthetic vitamin. The problem with this kid of vitamin and not just prenatals, is that you body is not absorbing them as well, meaning paying the extra price actually is probably a balance in terms of how much your body is actually accepting. I have taken several different whole foods vitamins in my lifetime and there is none I love more than the New Chapter Prenatal. The cheapest whole foods prenatal that I have found is Rainbow Light **I do not take a prenatal vitamin in my pregnancies anymore because I focus on high nutrition and the Beef Liver and Fermented cod liver oil as mentioned above.

Raw/Whole foods Calcium

Help your baby and yourself by taking some extra calcium while pregnant! Not only are they growing bones, but they might steal from you if you’re not getting enough in your diet. Taking calcium can be a way to help prevent osteoporosis later in life. Calcium is in a lot of leafy greens, and there are raw supplements as well. I love the Garden of Life Raw Calcium and also a mixture tablet of Cal/Mag/D by Rainbow Light when I can swallow a pill that big!

Red Raspberry Leaf

This can be in tea or capsule form and can be beneficial in strengthening the uterus. While RRL can cause contractions if you start it later in pregnancy, taking it throughout should not be an issue at all and cen help prepare your uterus for labor.

Assorted Teas

As mentioned above, red raspberry leaf tea is a great one. In fact if you don’t have a good loose leaf, then check out red raspberry leaf tea that’s called Pregnancy Tea by Traditional Medicinals.

Earth Mama Angel Baby makes a sampler pack of teas for the “Mama-to-be”. There is one for morning sickness, another for heartburn, and a third trimester tea as well.

Chamomile is an option both for a soothing nighttime tea, but can also be an antifungal. This means it can be used topically for yeast infections and can be consumed for the same purpose. Just a great one to have on hand during pregnancy. My personal favorite is Choice Chamomile Tea. Please note, that it is considered a weed can can irritate allergies if you have bad ones. Dilute if needed and start slow!

Magnesium

There are many types of magnesium. Magnesium is great for muscle sourness and round ligament pain. It also plays a huge role in morning sickness.

The liquid form of anything is always the most highly absorbable, but there are lots of options for taking magnesium. I have the pill form, liquid, and the powder Natural Calm. Especially later in pregnancy, I would get leg cramps, taking an extra dose of magnesium was the remedy to solve my pregnancy pain!

I take two pill forms of magnesium daily: Magnesium Lysinate Glysinate (available in powder form too) and Magnesium Threonate.

Hemp Fiber & Protein Powder

This can be a life saver in early pregnancy or when your nutrition is just out of balance. I found that I felt awful if I didn’t get enough protein and fiber is always a must to keep you regular especially during pregnancy. Nutiva makes great supplement to add to a fruit smoothie or even on top or cereal just to get a little extra on the days you know you’re not doing as well.

Read more: Do you know what a “B” belly is in pregnancy?

Evening Primrose Oil

This is great to take both at the end of pregnancy in pill form and to use a a suppository. It helps soften the cervix to help prepare for delivery. I personally started taking and using EPO around 34 weeks to prepare for delivery.

Grapefruit Seed Extract

In liquid form, grapefruit seed extract is an easily digestible remedy to help with feminine problems. 10 drops can even be added to 8oz of water in a peri-bottle to rinse your private area for relief and to combat any issues. It can also be added to laundry to help combat yeast if needed as well that might have gotten onto clothing. UTIs and Yeast Infections are very common in pregnancy, therefore you will see a lot of these items are great remedies to treat symptoms and infections of that nature.

Garlic Cloves/ Garlic Capsules

Garlic is nature’s natural antibiotic. You can take straight garlic cloves, but sometimes that’s more hassle than it’s worth and some people just can’t swallow those cloves. Un-cooked cloves are best if taking raw, or capsules come in raw garlic forms as well. Great for combating infections from Yeast to Bronchitis.

If you are experiencing a yeast infection, which due to pH changes during pregnancy are unfortunately far too common… then you can also use a raw garlic clove as a suppository. While it sounds painful and/or ridiculous, the relief is far better than any discomforts you might feel. You can wrap it in a cheese cloth if it helps with removal.

Probiotics

Probiotics have so many beneficial effects. They help keep you healthier, can help reduce the chances of eczema in babies, and can help balance the bacteria in your body. This means taking a capsule or finding another source like kombucha, sauerkraut, etc. can help prevent and remedy yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, the common cold, UTIs, and a whole range of other discomforts you might experience during pregnancy. If you are taking this with an antibiotic (natural or not), it should be taken the opposite time of day or it’s basically a waste a money to take it).

Cranberry Capsules

While not the best option during a UTI, they are great to help ward of Urinary Tract Infections. Unfortunately UTIs are much more common during pregnancy and a lot more difficult to diagnose. Just a great thing to have on hand and take to help with acidity levels in your body.

Vitamin D

This vitamin boosts the immune system. While many turn to Vitamin C first when sick, I turn to Vitamin D. Going outside tends to make us feel better, and much fo that has to do with the vitamin D we get from the sun. Vitamin D in pregnancy can positively affect muscle strength and help reduce the chance of pre-eclampsia and Cesareans (1)

Energizing Iron

Ultimately energizing iron is liquid liver in capsule form. It doesn’t taste like anything though and is a gel-cap. I personally like it because it’s my primary sources of iron, I don’t need to eat liver, and I am not a vegan or vegetarian. Like with all irons, do not take within 2 hours of your calcium supplement because they counteract each other.

Chlorophyll/Alfalfa

This liquid is a great booster for the blood and iron; and is a vegetarian supplement. Not only does it provide lots of iron for the pregnant body, it nourishes your blood. Since blood volume significantly increases even in the first weeks of pregnancy, keeping those cells healthy is important. Furthermore, taking alfalfa/chlorophyll can help stop hemorrhaging after birth and many women report having significantly less blood loss in their birth experiences involving chlorophyll. I personally have to take a smaller amount of liquid Chlorophyll than most because it affects me negatively in terms of bowel movements which is why I typically either take a small dose or stick with energizing iron. This is not uncommon to experience loose stools, but just be aware. Like with all irons, do not take within 2 hours of your calcium supplement because they counteract each other.

With 4 of my pregnancies I took this and my bleeding was scant and lasted at most a week and a half.

A Healthy Diet

Last but most definitely not least is a healthy diet. This means nourishing your body and baby with foods that contains the protein, vitamins, and minerals that your body needs. While supplements are a great way to get what you need when you’re falling short, healthy pregnancy nutrition is the way to start.

Check out more Natural Pregnancy Articles & Resources.