Best Postnatal Vitamins for New Moms

A mother’s health after pregnancy is as important as during pregnancy.

Within that ten months, a mother’s nutritional intake will partly or mostly go to the baby and she may suffer from innutrition issues.

Worse still, a lot of nutrients are depleted from the mother when she is in labor. For example, iron, a mineral needed to produce red blood cells, is lost during childbirth because of the large amount of blood loss, which is inevitable.

To replenish the nutrients lost during childbirth, most doctors recommend postnatal vitamins. The benefits brought by these vitamins can significantly help the mother’s recovery. And if breastfeeding is what a mom chooses, the vitamin can also be of great help.

Part 1: Why Are Postnatal Vitamins Important

Postnatal vitamins are supplements containing essential nutrients like iron, vitamin D, folic acid, DHA, and others to supply the mother with enough energy after birth. All are vital to help new moms to recover from postnatal conditions.

To a lot of new moms, they will suffer from at least one issue and some will have multiple. They will easily feel tired and weak. Without the proper care and specific nutrition, such issues will last for months and even years.

Also, if breastfeeding is what you have chosen, the postnatal vitamins are the guarantee that your child can get enough nutrition from you.

Part 2: How to Choose Suitable Postnatal Vitamins for New Mothers

Though postnatal vitamins contribute to the mothers’ and babies’ bodies, we can’t provide random pills to the mothers without proper dosage.

To avoid organ damage due to misusing, every new mother must have a clear understanding of the body and the vitamins.

If you’re not feeling right, identify the symptoms first. Then, find the vitamins that can 100% cure your issue. And always remember: don’t overtake the postnatal vitamins.

To target your condition, we have listed some common health issues that a mom will encounter after labor. Find your case and get the proper vitamins. Get well soon!

Common Postnatal Condition 1: Anemia

Blood loss during childbirth cannot be avoided. In a normal delivery, 300-500 ml (half a qt) of blood can be lost, while in a C-section delivery, 800-1,000 ml (1 qt) of blood loss can occur.

As a result, anemia occurs and moms will suffer symptoms like weakness, eye faintness, nausea, and, giddiness.

However, since symptoms will not strike every hour but usually once or twice every few hours, new mothers don’t pay much attention. This is a big mistake, for sure.

If you seldom or never experience any symptoms before pregnancy and later all present after labor, you have anemia. You must take it seriously before any cardiovascular disease like heart failure knocks on the door.

Suitable Postnatal Vitamins for Anemia

The human body needs a lot of material to produce blood and three major ones are

iron (Fe),
B9 (folic acid),
and B12 (cobalamin).

For postnatal blood loss, these three vitamins are essential.

Iron

Normally, iron-deficiency anemia is the most common anemia that new mothers will encounter. Fatigue, pale skin, cold hands and feet, and dizziness are the symptoms.

For mothers who have this anemia, an extra manmade vitamin supply is actually not important. You can easily absorb enough iron from natural food like red meat, beans, dried, fruits, eggs, salmon, dark green leafy vegetables, and other.

By the way, vitamin C is a good helper to your body to better absorb iron. You can eat more fruits and vegetables that contain it, like
oranges, lemons, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, and broccoli.

B12

When B12 can only be naturally obtained from meat, vegan moms will suffer from B12-deficiency anemia. If you are unwilling to break your vegan lifestyle, a manmade B12 pill is the only way out.

According to CDC, the amount of B12 for adults is 2.4 micrograms each day. And any long-term higher intake will cause side effects like headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.

Folic Acid

On the opposite, B9, aka folic acid is naturally found in vegetables and fruits that have green leaves. As a meat lover, you will suffer from anemia if you seldom eat vegetables. And the solution to this condition is also easy, just eat vegetables and fruits.

Of course, you can choose to take in postnatal vitamins instead of food sources.

Tip:

There’s actually a daily upper limit for B9: 1,000 micrograms. However, no experiment suggests that a higher intake will do bad effects on the human body.

The only reason for B9’s limit is that taking a higher amount will cover B12-deficiency. The condition will be misdiagnosed or escape diagnosis. And patients will be in worse sufferings.

Common Postnatal Condition 2: Postpartum Depression

During pregnancy estrogen, oxytocin, prolactin, relaxin loosens, and a lot of other hormones will raise to a high level to prepare your body for childbirth. After delivery, some hormones drop to a considerably low level like placenta progesterone.

Such imbalance will lead to insomnia, body and joint pain, and others. While these physical impacts can be cured and are no big deal, postpartum depression is the invisible killer.

Mothers sometimes can feel extremely bored, anxious, depressed, sad, or even indifferent to everything, including the baby. This is what postpartum depression does to mothers. Without proper care and treatment, she might do some bad things to the baby or herself. It’s no news for nursing mothers to have a breakdown while taking care of their babies.

So, before any bad result happens, we must cure this depression.

Suitable Postnatal Vitamins for Postpartum Depression

Omega-3 DHA

Omega-3 DHA is a fatty acid that can help reduce low moods after childbirth. It aids serotonin, a nerve messenger that helps balance your mood. This is fundamental for depressed mothers.

We can obtain DHA naturally from seafood like fish, shellfish, and well-known fish oils. We can see a lot of commercials boasting about the effects of fish oils and their DHA ingredient. Apart from curing depression, DHA is also believed to be a great helper to human brains, eyes, circulation, muscles, and hearts.

For new mothers, you can eat some fresh sea products to gain enough DHA. However, you’d better have half intake from supplements according to European Food Safety Authority.

Magnesium

Magnesium during the postnatal period is essential for mothers to calm themselves and reduce stress and anxiety, and episodes of low mood. This mineral can also improve sleep and enhance bone strength and structure that is usually weakened during breastfeeding.

Common Postnatal Condition 3: Innutrition

You never know if you are suffering from innutrition until the pain comes.

Your muscle sores and aches quite often and will last quite a few days.
You get tired so easily and sometimes can’t catch your breath.
You can fall asleep but will always wake up in the middle of the night.
Headaches, blackouts, soft nails, and dry and dull skin become your company.

All these symptoms will be worse when you choose to breastfeed your baby. A portion of nutrition is gone because of milk production.

Nursing mothers, there’s one sign that can help you know your nutrition status.

Check your nipple after breastfeeding. Does the bite mark of your baby or red vanish in 3 minutes? If it lasts for more than 5 minutes, you need supplements.

Suitable Postnatal Vitamins for Innutrition

To have a strong body to take care of your baby better, you need a lot of different vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Also, to make sure your baby grows perfectly with your milk, you need to pay attention to some less common nutrients.

Vitamin A & C

Both vitamins are vital to keeping your muscles, joints, and skin active. If you have a sore and painful body, both vitamins are the best options to ease your pain.

Choline

Choline is a nutrient needed by our body to regulate mood, memory, and muscle control.

A mother’s demand for choline during lactation is increased. This is because choline can be passed to the baby through breast milk. It plays a very important role in the baby’s development, especially in the brain and memory.

B Vitamins （B1 & B12)

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) is needed to support the brain development of the baby.
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is essential for the development of red blood cells in the baby.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin needed during the postnatal period. Studies have shown that including vitamin D as a supplement aids in the reduction of periods of low moods in mothers.

Also, this vitamin is essential for the babies’ bone growth. It can be transferred from mother to baby through breast milk, which is why breastfeeding mothers should take adequate amounts of this vitamin.

Calcium

Calcium is not only good for the bones but it is also needed for blood clotting and maintaining a normal, regular heart rhythm. Taking calcium during the postnatal period prevents bone problems for the mother and at the same time, aids in bone development and strengthening in both mother and baby.

Tip:

It’s said that a placenta diet will provide multiple nutrients mentioned above for mothers. However, we didn’t really see some facts and statistics about that. You’d better ask your doctor for whatever you plan to do for your postpartum.

How to Choose The Best Postnatal Vitamins

There’re many postnatal vitamin products available online and in the markets. Most of them contain more than 10 vitamins and will be definitely helpful to your conditions.

And how do we choose a suitable bottle of supplement? Easy, here are some tips and typical products for your reference.

Ingredients of Postnatal Vitamins

If one bottle does not have:

DHA
Vitamin A, B (B1, B6, B9, B12), C, & D
Iron, calcium, & magnesium
Choline,
Folic acid

Don’t even waste your time looking at it. All these nutrients are beneficial for you and your baby’s health. Unless the doctor tells you one or several specific vitamins to avoid, otherwise, never buy a bottle like that.

Diet Type and Allergy Attention

If you or your baby has an allergy to milk, grain (gluten), nuts, peanuts, seafood, or others. You must read carefully the product description. Make sure the allergic content is excluded.