What is the Best Prenatal Vitamin?
*updated March 2025
Welcome to our blog on choosing the best prenatal vitamin in Australia!
We understand there’s so many to choose from and it can get overwhelming. As Fertility & Pregnancy Acupuncturists, we’ve seen almost all of the multivitamins for preconception.
Selecting the right prenatal multi vitamin can be easy with the proper guidance. Here's our quick checklist to help you choose the best prenatal multivitamin out there (we give this to our clients!).
At Embrace Acupuncture, we work with both male and female fertility and understand the importance of holistic care in your journey from preconception to port birth. Our specialised Acupuncture treatments complement your prenatal care by naturally working with your fertility.
Learn more about how we work with Fertility Acupuncture & Pregnancy Acupuncture.
How to choose a good prenatal multivitamin
Pick one that ONLY has Activated Folate NOT folic acid in it.
Folic acid is hard to absorb by the body and mucks up your methylation pathways (especially if you have a MTHFR gene mutation), making it hard to detoxify the body and absorb B vitamins, like actual folate!
Folic acid is often used because it’s cheap to produce, but that does not mean it’s better for you.
Forms of good bioavailable folate include 5-MTHF folate, levomefolic acid and folinic acid.
We know many prenatals do contain yucky folic acid still. Want to see some more information on this?
Dr Ben Lynch has plenty of info and resources on folic acid.
This article explains the difference between the types of folate and this article explains what happens in the body with folic acid in pregnancy.
Many prenatals are low in iron
Unless you have Haemochromatosis (a genetic disorder), your prenatal NEEDS to have a good amount of iron in it.
24mg a day is ideal.
Women generally need at least 18mg per day of iron (a steak only has 4mg, and chicken, lentils and spinach even less than that). Your body’s iron requirement jumps up to 24mg when pregnant. You may also need more iron if you have gut issues or chronic inflammation. Gut issues compromise your ability to absorb iron, whilst chronic inflammation chews up your iron reserves.
See here for a blog I wrote on how low iron affects fertility.
Which is the best type of vitamin B12 for preconception?
If Cyanocobalamin is the type of Vitamin B12 in your prenatal - ditch it.
It’s cheap, nasty, and hard for your body to use. It can also disrupt methylation pathways (reducing how well your body detoxifies chemicals and uses B vitamins).
You need vitamin B12 to help carry around iron around the body. If you're vegetarian or anemic, you may need even higher amounts.
Hydroxocobalamin, Adenosylcobalamin or Methylcobalamin are easy forms for your body to use. Some people may need differing types but these 3 are generally well-tolerated.
Why do you need a good prenatal for conception and pregnancy?
Your body needs an array of vitamins and minerals to keep it functioning happily in general.
It needs enough nutrients to keep you alive, do basic functions AND have enough reserves to make great eggs and uterine lining as a future home for your baby. It then needs the same or more nutrients to actually GROW your baby. Your body will prioritise a babi’s development and strip nutrients from your reserves, leaving you depleted and having symptoms in your pregnancy.
Also, your body doesn’t only need folate or iron, but a whole bunch of vitamins to keep your beautiful body humming along and ready to make & grow babies.
While you may need to top up a certain vitamin or mineral for a short while (if blood tests indicate it), a good quality prenatal covers the basics!
What about a healthy diet in pregnancy instead of a prenatal multivitamin?
While this is a great start, unless you've calculated that you're getting the EXACT amount of every nutrient needed, incorporating a good prenatal vitamin will help you cover your nutritional basics during this important time and prevent deficiencies. See more on how to prevent common pregnancy symptoms.
Keep in mind it takes about 3 months to mature eggs & sperm, so both parties taking a good prenatal vitamin (ideally) for at least 3 months before conception, as well as during pregnancy, is recommended.
Which prenatal multivitamin does a Fertility Acupuncturist recommend?
Our personal favourite is *Naturobest. They satisfy all the above criteria, are made in Australia, have specific vitamins for preconception for women, preconception for men, trimester 1 and trimester 2, 3 & breastfeeding to meet your differing nutritional needs.
Tresos Natal Pro is also great but is only available via prescription from a registered health practitioner (such as ourselves!).
Both are gentle on tummies, tested and safe to take in pregnancy, contain activated folate & b12 and enough iron!
*We love them so much we have a discount code for you!
Knowing you’re taking a good quality prenatal vitamin and covering a lot of your nutritional needs is important. We hope this guide assists you in choosing your prenatal vitamins and leaves you with more time to do other things you enjoy!
For personalised advice and Acupuncture treatments, book your session and we will help support your fertility journey.
Blog written by Dr Danielle Maguire (TCM).
Danielle graduated from RMIT University with honours in Bachelor Degrees in Human Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has been passionately working with hormonal health, fertility and pregnancy for over a decade.
See more about how Danielle works here.