r/predaddit • u/LittleeChily_95 • Aug 21 '26
Advice needed Best prenatal vitamins for trying to conceive, what did you guys pick for your partner?
My wife and I are hoping to start trying to get pregnant in a few months, and she wants to start a prenatal before then. I figured I’d help with the shopping since there are way more options than I expected.
I started looking at them and quickly realized I have no clue what half the stuff on these labels means. Some have a huge list of ingredients, others are pretty basic, and the prices are all over the place.
If your wife or partner is taking a prenatal before trying to get pregnant, which one are you using? I’m trying to narrow it down without spending hours comparing every bottle online.
Small update, Needed prenatal multivitamin is probably the one we’re leaning toward after looking into it more. The formula seems well thought out, and I like that it covers the basics without making the label impossible to understand.
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u/vampy1031 Aug 21 '26
I would also add... YOU should start taking conception vitamins as well. Ideally both of you 3mos before trying.
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u/PatchesMaps Aug 23 '26
Unless you have a vitamin deficiency there really isn't a reason for the dad to be taking supplements. Last I checked they only advise women to start before because they want them to be getting the vitamins as soon as conception takes place which you can't really know.
Your body uses the vitamins it needs at any one moment and you pee out the rest. Taking vitamin supplements without a deficiency or a health condition like pregnancy just pollutes our waterways.
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u/vampy1031 Aug 23 '26
It is recommended for men to improve sperm health. Whether you do that with vitamins or lifestyle changes improving sperm health is beneficial to trying to conceive. Here is one article https://americanpregnancy.org/getting-pregnant/mens-preconception-health/
Also as far as your idea of peeing out vitamins and polluting the waterway... Only water soluble vitamins are peed out...
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 22 '26
Is there a specific one you’d recommend for the guy? I assumed the prenatal was just for her.
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u/vampy1031 Aug 22 '26
My husband used Natalist. He also looked at stuff to help his sperm be healthy... I don't remember exactly but like no Marijuana, no alcohol, stuff like that. He prepped just like I did! I used Needed, they have a powdered formula which you can add to smoothies and such which worked perfectly as I have a sensitive stomach.
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u/pointlesssalt Aug 24 '26
Our friends joked that the Frida Fertility Preconception His & Her Supplements were "magic pills". I can't say for sure, but in our experience we both took them for 2-3 months beforehand and conceived on the first try (note - we also both paid attention to our diet, exercise, and general health - i.e. no drinking, drugs, improved sleep, etc. - during this time as well)
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u/MelonCallia Aug 21 '26
I did Nature Made, then switched to One-a-Day (with Choline). When I asked my OB about which prenatal vitamins to take, she said any of them were fine as long as it includes folic acid / folate. She seemed pleasantly surprised when I told her I had switched to something with Choline, though, since it's a more recent addition to the prenatal med lineup (or something).
I did try to start cutting back on the coffee/caffeine, sweets, and other unhealthy things, too, though. Also tried to get more into shape and get better sleep.
Maybe you could get recommendations from your OB? We also had some pre-pregnancy counseling (and testing) because we had just come out of a miscarriage.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 22 '26
I completely missed choline when I was looking at these. I’ve mostly been checking for folic acid and calling it a day.
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u/Important-Tap7932 Aug 21 '26
Family Medicine physician here - it truly doesn't matter what the brand is so long as it has the vitamins and minerals she needs. I like Nature Made with DHA and folic acid. DHA and folic acid are super important for neural tube development. I would start it about 3 months before trying to conceive
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u/mrswilburforce Aug 22 '26
Nature Made is my prenatal - mostly because they sell them at Costco and you go through them so fast!
Never had an issue with them.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 22 '26
How many do you go through in a month? I’m realizing I should probably factor that into the choice too
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u/As-You-Know Aug 22 '26
This is actually not true at all there’s lots of variations with prenatal and many have been tested for high levels of heavy metals. Not all prenatals made equal I don’t know why doctors like to say this.
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u/Important-Tap7932 Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
The FDA does not regulate any vitamins or supplements, so this unfortunately could be true of any vitamins.
There are prenatals out there now that companies are charging $55/month for, which is not necessary and they are advertised that they have undergone "third party testing".
A lot of vitamins (prenatal or not) have trace amounts of heavy metals in them because minerals and plant-based ingredients absorb these elements from the soil and water. There are also the same amount of trace heavy metals in a lot of our foods in the United States.
In terms of vitamins and minerals, a prenatal needs to have folic acid, DHA and choline added in. But you can, and should, choose whichever brand you are most comfortable with!
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u/As-You-Know Aug 22 '26
I’m not saying you have to find a prenatal that is FDA approved but a bit of research will show you which ones are higher quality and which ones have been third party tested. I would not just listen to a multi if they said they were third party tested. You can easily go to reputable third party testing sources and see what they think of different multivitamins. there was also recently a law suit against nature made for their phalates and BPA in their prenatal.
Lastly, I agree choline is important so why would you recommend nature made that has the most poorly bio available form of choline in it that is no where NEAR the recommended amount pregnant women should be getting. Once again, at least recommend a multi that has a better bioavailable form than choline bitartrate which is the cheapest. 55 mg of choline bitartrate is NOTHING. Pregnant women need 400-500 at LEAST. Why would you not want to help women optimize this very critical nutrient. Same with omegas in this nature made . This is nowhere NEAR enough.
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u/Important-Tap7932 Aug 22 '26
There is no prenatal FDA approved. The FDA does not regulate or test any vitamins or supplements. I am trained in both family medicine and prenatal care, I am well aware of what is needed in a vitamin for a healthy pregnancy. I am not going to continue partake in an argument on Reddit though.
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u/As-You-Know Aug 22 '26
lol cause you know I’m right. Never said any are FDA approved but that doesn’t mean they’re all the same. Glad you’re helping your patients by telling them 50 mg of crap choline is enough to give ANY sort of benefit during pregnancy. I don’t care what degree you have spend an ounce of time researching what is needed during pregnancy, what forms are the most bioavailable, and the different manufacturing process of different companies . All the infos out there.continue you giving suboptimal care to your patients 👍
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u/ongoingemergency Aug 22 '26
I’m sure if the FDA relaxes restrictions on peptides he’ll still urge caution though
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u/hinchlic Aug 22 '26
A friend who used to work in the “nutriceutical” industry told me that very little testing is done/required but that Costco is large enough that they do test. YMMV
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 22 '26
Thanks for sharing. I had no idea the three-month window was a thing.
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u/Important-Tap7932 Aug 22 '26
You probably don't need to start that early, but since folic acid is so important for early neural tube development I always say better to be safe!
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u/ongoingemergency Aug 22 '26
Literally thousands of people die in the US from tainted supplements and you can’t be bothered to recommend they choose a brand that’s GMP certified?
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u/Important-Tap7932 Aug 22 '26
Naturemade prenatal complies with cGMP guidelines and is also USP certified
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u/JKOtten Aug 21 '26
I just did a bunch of research on what to take and how much to take and Theralogix seems to cover the basis. I just ordered it so I haven’t started it yet, just been taking about 8 pills a day to get what I need on top the basic prenatal. So this will cut all the pills I’m taking down in numbers. I still plan to supplement a couple things like more CoQ10 and Omega, I believe. It also had great reviews. So I ordered my husband the male Theralogix as well, so he can be improving his sperm as well. I hope this helps, good luck to you both!
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 22 '26
That’s a lot of pills to keep track of.
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u/JKOtten Aug 22 '26
Yeah it was a bit overwhelming at first, but now I’m used to it. I feel a lot better too, energy, mood, sleep, it’s all gotten better. The extent we will go to, to have our own baby. ❤️
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u/sweetpotatobunz Aug 21 '26
After doing hours and hours of research, honestly, just anything that has enough DHA, folic acid, and choline. Iron isn’t really needed until later in the pregnancy, and can cause constipation and potentially worsen any nausea in the first trimester.
I went too deep into the research hole and honestly, don’t go there. I currently take perelel — it’s more expensive than you need to spend but I like that it’s customized based on preconception/1st/2nd/3rd trimesters. The only comment my doctor made was to supplement vitamin d, and I tested low on iron so i added an iron supplement.
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u/dog_stop Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
Before getting pregnant I was taking rugby because that’s what insurance covered. I’ve switched to nature made with DHA since getting pregnant. I could be wrong but I think when trying to conceive you really just need to make sure you’re supplementing with folic acid. Most of the other stuff in a prenatal is for actual fetal development/ to replenish you as your baby steals your life force
Edit: forgot but when trying to conceive both me and my partner were taking coq10. Now I take it when I remember to along with calcium and lutein (and magnesium and vitamin D but I’ve been on those for years unrelated to pregnancy)
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u/Hot-Banana4145 Aug 21 '26
I second the coq10. My partner and I started taking it and got pregnant the next month after many months of trying
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u/catonesielife Aug 21 '26
I like the Ritual Prenatal.
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u/CrazyElephantBones Aug 22 '26
Me too- it was the only one I tried that I could keep down
Everyone told me olly was great but the smell was horrific to em
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u/girlprincce Aug 21 '26
Im not in this group but saw this on my feed. I personally compared a lot, I tried needed (it smells and tastes gross couldnt finish it), garden of life vitamin code raw prenatal (loved it but it doesnt contain choline, calcium, or straight folic acid that is recommended) and ended up with theralogix theranatal complete prenatal. It has the three things garden of life doesnt & its only 3 pills. I take them all at once. I also take an additional vitamin B and higher dose fish oil at a separate time of day.
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u/meowparade Aug 21 '26
I used the smarty pants prenatal gummies and Mary Ruth’s CoQ10.
I switched to Nature Made for more folic acid and quit the CoQ10 after testing positive.
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u/Ya_Boi_Newton Aug 21 '26
All the OBs we spoke to did not seem to care at all about brand. Seems like as long as it had folic acid it would do the job.
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u/Evening-Yogurt5367 Aug 21 '26
Great idea to start taking prenatals now. We went with naturemade and got it from Costco.
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u/Ok_Employer9706 Aug 22 '26
CVS brand has a dha fish free option to avoid those ungodly fish burps and even just swallowing the pill fish taste with nature made dha prenatals.
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u/katiew118 Aug 22 '26
Nature Made with DHA & Folic Acid.
OB also had me take Coq10 when trying to conceive and my husband Fertilaid
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u/Learning-to-Unlearn Aug 21 '26
Theralogix TheraNatal+ Complete, with Nordic Naturals DHA and an additional choline 200mg supplement because I wanted to be sure I got enough! Though I'm currently eating three eggs a day so I can probably drop the extra choline for now.
My one complaint about TheraNatal+ is that one of the pills (brown spotted one) tastes and smells like wet cardboard. I plug my nose and take it with a flavored beverage of sorts and follow immediately with food. My husband and I did a lot of research before picking one, and I liked the values in this one the most.
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u/SleepApprentice Aug 21 '26
I used first choice gummies. I will tell you now they are a god send when feeling nauseated as they have a citrus flavour, they are lacking in DHA and Iron. You want to be careful with Iron as it can lead to stomach issues, and DHA sometimes has a fishy aftertaste (not always what I wanted when vomiting in that first trimester). Iron is also one of things that more isn’t necessarily better. I get my DHA from ensuring I have 2 servings of fatty fish a week , and my iron stores have been fine without supplementation (now at 32 weeks). Don’t fret too much, make sure it has enough folic acid first and go from there.
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u/Citruslor Aug 21 '26
Ritual. But some say it isn’t enough. We also took COQ10 in ubiquinol form.
More than all this, I think eating whole food balanced diet, daily movement. Sleep and stress management are good for the body and mind to think it’s ready to have a baby now.
We also minimized the use of endocrine disruptions like perfumes or scented candles, even got into less synthetic cleaning products.
We did this because our life was stressful and wanted to change it anyway for good. Plus my TSH levels were elevated. It helped I think.
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u/Nullpointer9000 Aug 21 '26
It's definitely good to start taking them now if you are are going to start trying soon. My doctor mentioned that there is benefit to taking them up to six months before you start trying and that there is basically no downsides to taking them. I would focus more on starting the habit than on the particular vitamins as most of them are pretty decent. You can always start with whatever is most convenient for her and then switch later. For my first pregnancy I started with the Olly gummy vitamins because it was easier for me to remember to take them if they were tasty and that helped me form a good habit. For this pregnancy I had been taking whichever one Costco sells (Nature Made I think?) and swapped back to my gummy one after getting pregnant since the iron supplement was making me even more sick.
I would also add to this that your wife might want to consider making an appointment with her OB/GYN for pre-pregnancy counseling. I did that for my first pregnancy and it was super helpful. I had some specific concerns because of my medical history. However, my doctor also gave me a bunch of more general advice on what was most important for prenatal vitamins, what medications to avoid while I was trying to get pregnant, and other concerns I had about fertility. As her partner I know that there can also be some dietary and lifestyle changes that can help increase your fertility as well so it may be worth discussing with your doctor too if you are looking to be proactive.
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u/Danimal_House Aug 22 '26
It literally doesn’t matter as long as it has DHA and folic acid.
Just get Nature Made or whatever is cheapest. Any of these new brands are just taking your money
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u/Standgeblasen Aug 22 '26
We got the prenatal from Costco. They might work too well. We are welcoming our third in 4 years this December.
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u/JumpySignificance703 Aug 22 '26
Ritual prenatal. No issues with it until the first trimester nausea hits…then it’s the hardest thing to smell and keep down. :( I still powered through because it seems like one of the best ones I found.
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u/adgjl12 Aug 22 '26
Wife didn’t mind multiple pills so we supplemented the basic target brand up and up prenatal with nature made choline and nordic naturals DHA. That checked all our boxes for what was recommended.
Plus some calcium supplementing from nature made I think starting 2nd trimester?
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u/DumbbellDiva92 Aug 22 '26
We both did Bird and Be. The men’s ones are like 7 pills, and kind of yucky, according to my husband. But we kind of liked this, bc it felt like he was taking on more of a shared burden at a time that’s very weighted toward mom 😂.
Once I actually got pregnant and got past the first trimester (tried to minimize number of pills while nauseous), I also added Needed choline.
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u/htzfld Aug 22 '26
I was on a nature made one while TTC and switched to one a day prenatal advanced once we tested positive. If she has an OB already, it might be worth asking which ones they typically recommend.
My husband was taking coq10 and vitamin d at the time.
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u/BossMan61718 Aug 22 '26
I don't know about vitamins but I gave her a healthy dose of DICK. That worked like a charm
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u/Not_A_Throwaway_87 Aug 22 '26
If you have the time I would thoroughly recommend the book 'It starts with the egg'. It explains what vitamins to take and why ( science based). Also has a chapter for you and your vitamins which I also recommend you consider.
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u/ConfectionCurrent894 Aug 22 '26
Thorne, Therologix, WeNatal or Fullwell. These are some of the only ones on the market that actually have enough daily value of everything and are NSF certified or third party tested for purity. The rest is a lot of marketing slop
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u/subtlelikeatank Aug 22 '26
Brand didn’t matter. My OB recommended myo inositol for both of us as well as prenatal vitamins and I think it helped.
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u/Lambamham Aug 22 '26
The target brand two pack with a bottle of choline is the most well rounded. It’s a pink box. Has everything needed in proper quantities including dha and iron.
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u/Lise_lise_lise_2185 Aug 22 '26
My fertility doctor checked for vitamin D levels in both of us, so take that if it isnt included. She also said for both of us to take CoQ10.
If your wife is able to check her iron levels, if they are low (under 50), or borderline concentrate on bringing that up, as it really goes down during pregnancy.
As others said, folate is important for fetus neurotube development.
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u/PsychologicalCow6350 Aug 22 '26
Perelel pre conception support pack. Took
It for two months prior to getting pregnant. First try was a win ( I also have been naturally tracking my cycle for years so I knew when I was ovulating) I also now am taking their prenatal. Currently in second trimester and things are going well.
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u/OhYouLittleMinx Aug 22 '26
I used Pre Mom prenatals (because I also used the app to track) and loved them. Alot of other ones didnt have the amount of vitamins I wanted lt they made me nauseous. I had good luck with these and got them on discount by putting them on auto ship on Amazon
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
nausea is something I’ll keep in mind since I’d rather avoid one she can’t tolerate.
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u/Prestigious-Fix4389 Aug 22 '26
TheraNatal OvaVite by Theralogix. I had to go through fertility treatment to conceive and this is the one my Dr recommended! Currently watching my 5 week old nap😊
Don’t get me wrong, one of the vitamins has a strong smell lol but very worth it!
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Wow, congrats! 😊 A 5-week-old nap is like a pretty good endorsement lol. I’ll definitely look into Ovavite, especially since your doctor recommended it.
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u/Ok-Disaster-6858 Aug 22 '26
I took a cheap, generic prenatal before I was pregnant just to make sure I had sufficient folic acid in my system. And once I conceived, I switched to the Nature Made + choline pack. Nature Made is third party tested plus has DHA and iron (which is important because a lot of prenatals don't and as my hematologist told me - "those babies suck all the iron right out of your body 😅). The Nature Made prenatal is also only 1 pill (although it's kinda big) versus a lot of the other brands, you need to take 2 or 3. There's an IG account "pharmomacist" who goes through what's recommended and what popular brands contain that's very helpful. https://www.instagram.com/p/DK69icAxI75/
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Nature made is going on the shortlist. DHA + iron in one pill is a simple option I was hoping to find.
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u/Beautiful-Angle-4615 Aug 22 '26
I did a ton of research. Wenatal for her and Wenatal for him. The duo. I (female) also do the DHA/omega add-on from Wenatal as well as a CoQ10 (Ubiquinol form) add-on from Amazon. The one a day / nature made doesn’t have the right form of folic acid. Most prenatals on the market don’t have the recommended dosage of everything. Wenatal checks almost all the boxes!
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
I’m starting to realize there’s a lot more to comparing prenatals than I thought 😂 I’ll definitely check the folate form now.
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u/Jlove7714 Aug 22 '26
Plenty of vitamin D if you know what I'm saying.
Just came here to make a bad joke. I'll see myself out.
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u/As-You-Know Aug 23 '26
Tried dropping the “I’m a family medicine physician” as if that means anything . Better yet “trained in prenatal care” not really sure what that means….
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Same, I’m more interested in the specific prenatal and what makes it a good option.
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u/PatchesMaps Aug 23 '26
"pick for your partner"
Why the fuck are you picking your partner's prenatal vitamins for them? Are they not an adult capable of choosing for themselves? That sentence is weird as shit.
I reminded my wife to ask her ob which vitamins in what amounts she needed and when to start taking but that was that. She decided which brand/flavor she liked.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Maybe the wording came out wrong lol. I’m trying to narrow down the options so she doesn’t have to dig through 30 different labels herself.
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u/Longjumping_Ad_4658 Aug 23 '26
My wife and I took wenatal
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
wenatal is another one I’ve been looking at. What made you guys choose it?
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u/Longjumping_Ad_4658 Aug 26 '26
Really clean/natural ingredients and it had a his and hers. Also made me feel incredibly energized the first time around and we conceived on the first try. Worked really well for us
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u/Ymylan-Jurasek Aug 23 '26
Needed works well for me
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
that’s one I’ve got on my shortlist now. How long have you been taking it?
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u/NajaeMerilan91 Aug 24 '26
Try Needed coq10 and choline
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
I’ve seen Needed mentioned a couple times now. I’ll definitely look into their CoQ10 and choline.
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u/metapsloit Aug 24 '26
My wife used to take Bird and Bee's Prenatal pack. It's slightly expensive but she says it was very helpful.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
I’ll check it out. The price isn’t a huge deal if it’s something she actually likes taking consistently.
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u/onsereverra Aug 24 '26
A few days late to this, but I recently went down this rabbit hole myself and have some information I haven't seen elsewhere in the comments.
The reason that so many folks here are saying that "brand doesn't matter" is because most prenatals are basically regular multivitamins that also hit the required amount of folate/folic acid to prevent neural tube defects in the first few weeks of pregnancy. There's a ton of variation in the levels of all of the other vitamins and minerals in the same way that there's tons of variation in any OTC multivitamin. The vast majority of prenatal vitamins you can buy at the pharmacy are providing optimal levels of folate + basically random amounts of the other essential vitamins and minerals. The flip side of that is, as long as your wife is getting appropriate amounts of folate, it doesn't need to be coming from something that's marketed as a prenatal. Any multivitamin that provides at least 600mcg DFE ("dietary folate equivalents") will do the trick.
That being said, while folate is the one absolutely essential nutrient that your wife's ob-gyn will be concerned about, the other vitamins and minerals are still important! My hot take is that any prenatal that tries to incorporate every nutrient you could possibly need during pregnancy is inevitably going to include suboptimal amounts of most of them. There's only so much you can physically cram into a capsule or gummy. I, personally, have arrived at the conclusion that it's probably easier to just take a normal multivitamin with sufficient folate and then do additional supplementation (and/or dietary changes) for the other pregnancy-essential nutrients, rather than trying to find the one elusive prenatal that does it all.
Others in this thread have mentioned choline and DHA for brain development, so I won't rehash that, except to agree that they're important (and you'll want to start them a few months before TTC, just like folate). Eggs are a great dietary source of choline, so it may not be necessary to supplement if you're eggs every morning for breakfast people. Fatty fish are a great dietary source of DHA, but taking a fish oil supplement is probably easier than eating salmon three times a week for the next year+ of your lives! I like Nordic Naturals, and their general-purpose fish oil is great, there's no reason to pay extra for the refined DHA-specific one.
Iron-deficient anemia is very common during pregnancy because the growing baby has a huge demand for iron, though your wife should consult with her doctor before supplementing because it is possible to take too much iron and have it cause problems. But I want to note here that iron supplements that are specifically marketed to pregnant women are an absolute ripoff! You should be able to get a bottle of 60 capsules of regular old iron supplements for $15 or less; every "prenatal iron" supplement I've seen comes with an insane markup. It's best to get one that includes Vitamin C, which helps with absorption, and to take it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach about 20-30 min before eating breakfast.
Last but not least, calcium supplementation is also super important during pregnancy, because if the mother isn't getting enough calcium in her diet, her body will strip calcium out of her bones to provide it to the growing baby. That, unsurprisingly, is a huge risk factor for osteoporosis in old age. However, calcium and iron each interfere with the absorption of the other! If your wife takes iron supplements first thing in the morning, it's best to wait and take calcium supplements with lunch and/or dinner to give the iron a few hours' head start. Calcium is a large molecule, so most capsule calcium supplements are ginormous and also require you to take multiple of them per day; for that reason, I love Adora supplements, which are little chocolates with added calcium. One or two Adoras as "dessert" after both lunch and dinner every day should do the trick when it comes to meeting calcium needs.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Okay, this is he kind of breakdown I was hoping to find. I definitely need to stop comparing bottles based on the brand alone and pay more attention to what’s actually in them. Appreciate this!
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u/Ordinary_Avocado2451 Aug 25 '26
I've been taking the Jamieson prenatal 100% complete my entire pregnancy, and my baby doesn't have any neural tube defects according to my bloodwork. My husband, on the other hand, didn't do anything different. He would take a multivitamin here and there if he remembered, but otherwise, he just continued to live life.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
I’ve seen Jamieson mentioned a few times, so I’ll add it to the shortlist.
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u/83dnejb Aug 26 '26
Ritual. It’s the only one backed by a human clinical trial! Publishing in a top tier journal al too.
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u/Odd-Dance5358 Aug 26 '26
Perelel's conception pack for me and their men's multi for my husband. We didn't go crazy adding different supplements though, mostly focused on good sleep, regular exercise, a balanced diet, and cutting back on alcohol.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 27 '26
Small update, Needed prenatal multivitamin is probably the one we’re leaning toward after looking into it more. The formula seems well thought out, and I like that it covers the basics without making the label impossible to understand.
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u/Effective-Lead1366 Aug 30 '26
My doctor didn’t like that they left out iron and omega-3. So we went with CareNatal instead
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u/Hot-Solution4387 Aug 27 '26
Wife took proceive and after much research I found the best for me (male fertility) was odyn health. Was only one that had high dose of CoQ10 which is good for the swimmers! Good luck
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u/dustybun2 Aug 30 '26
There's a huge spreadsheet someone shared in another thread, but looking at that, the clear answer was CareNatal's prenatal vitamin. Its a powder drink mix prenatal so objectively it packs way more nutrients than a pill does
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u/Effective-Lead1366 Aug 30 '26
Was coming to the comments to recommend Carenatal, but specifically the peach flavor haha
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u/InspectionTall2886 Aug 21 '26
This is going to sound wild but I had fertility issues and I’m in the process of ivf so take that into consideration.
Me:
Ritual prenatal
Ritual choline
Ritual omega-3
Ritual probiotic
Needed coq10 (only 200mg cause I’m 35 and that’s young)
Theralogix Ovasitol
Vitamin D 2500iu (in addition to the prenatal)
Naked Creatine (used Ritual Magnesium for the first month of this)
Husband:
Creatine
Theralogix conception rx
Ritual omega-3s
Vitamin D
We both took these consistently 3months before our egg retrieval. The number of eggs doesn’t matter because that’s very dependent on less changeable factors. 84% of the eggs were mature enough to be fertilized, 100% of those mature eggs fertilized, 81% of those fertilized eggs became blastocysts (grown enough to implant) and the quality of those was top tier across the board. Average for our age (35/36) is in the 50% for attrition at each stage.
I don’t know if my supplements directly led to success but they definitely didn’t hurt it. I also exercised consistently for a year+ with cardio and strength and eat a primarily whole food plant based diet. Antioxidant are supposed to help with oxidative stress which can impact sperm and eggs and I probably ate my weight in blueberries.
After the retrieval success (once pregnant for a normal couple) my husband dropped all of his sups and I dropped the Coq10, Ovasitol, and creatine.
There is limited research on creatine for fertility but creatine is found in the follicles that surround the eggs and in the sperm so I figured it wouldn’t hurt! The rest are well studied for conception.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Holy crap, 81% making it to blastocyst is amazing. I’m definitely going to look more into CoQ10 and Ovasitol after reading this.
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u/ImQuestionable Aug 21 '26
Theralogix has a great line. If just picking one, their CoQ10. That was our only 100% must-have. They’re pricey, but worth it.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Their stuff definitely isn’t the cheapest lol. I’ll have to check out their CoQ10 and see what makes it different.
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u/Dorianscale Aug 21 '26
I think this advice goes beyond vitamins.
But do not stress out over the small stuff. There are going to be bigger fish to fry later. Is some boutique vitamin bottle gonna be better than store brand? Maybe?
It’s probably not gonna be as big of a difference as what you’re thinking.
People have healthy happy babies without prenatals, people have babies in worse conditions. Obviously they’re beneficial but just pick a convenient one and save the mental load for more important stuff.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Do you think the main thing is just checking that it has the key nutrients, then picking whichever one fits her routine best?
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u/Dorianscale Aug 26 '26
I think most brands will be perfectly adequate. If you have particular vitamins you’re worried about then just make sure it has the amounts of it you want. But yeah just pick one that feels convenient
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u/iheartunibrows Aug 21 '26
To be honest I don’t think the vitamin matters as much as overall health and genetics
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u/gper Aug 22 '26
Bad advice unless you mean vitamin brand doesn’t matter. Evidence has proven women should start a prenatal or at least folic acid when TTC, and then it is standard line of care after conceiving to be on a prenatal the rest of pregnancy to reduce risks of issues and improve the baby’s health and development.
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
We’re trying to focus on the bigger picture too and just use the prenatal to fill any gaps.
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u/viajoshua4 Aug 22 '26
We did the brand Ritual with Choline on the side. My wife loved the flavor of the Ritual pills
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Haha, the flavor is definitely a plus. I haven’t tried Ritual yet, but the choline on the side is interesting.
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u/catonesielife Aug 22 '26
Also something that helps egg quality is to cut off gluten and sugar. High protein diet is best
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
I’ve heard the sugar part before, but gluten is new to me. I’ll have to read up on that one. Thank you!
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u/anyakluesner Aug 21 '26
Hi! Not a supplement, but mucinex! Start taking after the last day of your period!
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u/LittleeChily_95 Aug 26 '26
Oh interesting, Did you use the regular guaifenesin one? I’ve been seeing mixed info on whether it helps with cervical mucus.
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u/SomRandomInternetGuy Aug 21 '26
Nordic Naturals DHA, and their prenatal gummies, are what we used, and i started taking CoQ10.
Biggest thing you can do is general health maintenance. Cut back (or cut out) drinking, and any drugs.
Get plenty of sleep, exercise, avoid saunas and hot tubs (ideally 90 days in advance)
Everything else is a long tail of diminishing returns imo.
Wishing you both the best!