Folate isn’t the only reason why prenatal multivitamins before pregnancy are a good thing. These are some of the top benefits of getting an early start on supplementation.*
1. Building a habit you can stick to through pregnancy.
Forming a new habit takes time. How much time, exactly? Here’s one estimate: A 2010 study identified an average of about 66 days (the range went from 18 to 254). (1)
Starting to take prenatal multivitamins three months before pregnancy (our experts’ recommendation) means you’ll have more than enough practice to make it a habit, plus our delayed-release capsules are designed to dissolve in the small intestine, an optimal place to absorb nutrients.* This is especially important during a time when the body is already preparing to embark on some major changes.
2. Supporting a baby’s neural tube formation when it counts most.*
The fetal neural tube begins developing very early in pregnancy—in weeks 3 and 4. (5) This is before most people even know they’re pregnant.
Folate and choline, which are found in prenatals like Ritual’s Essential Prenatal Multivitamin, are important for supporting fetal neural tube development.*
Because folate and choline play a key role in supporting neural tube development, and the neural tube starts forming so early on, it’s important to take prenatals before pregnancy.*
3. Giving the body enough time to help reach key nutrient levels for pregnancy health.*
Women† in the U.S. often have lower-than-recommended levels of key nutrients before and during pregnancy:
• More than 90% of pregnant people aren’t getting enough Choline from food.* (6)
• Approximately one-third of pregnant women don’t get enough biotin (which contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism)* (7)
• Nearly 40% of women ages 12-21, don’t get enough iron. (8) Iron, along with folate and vitamin B12, contribute to red blood cell formation.*
• Women who eat vegan diets are more likely to have lower levels of vitamin D. Vitamin D is a calcium-helper nutrient and promotes normal calcium absorption.*
Ritual’s Essential Prenatal is formulated with choline, biotin, iron, vitamin D, and 8 other key nutrients in clean, bioavailable forms.*
Reaching key nutrient levels doesn’t just happen overnight. Experts say it can take up to 3 months of supplementation before someone has the key levels of nutrients to support a healthy pregnancy.*
BTW: It’s impossible to know exactly when conception will happen. In fact, the most recent data we could find shows that almost half of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned. (2)
Since the timing of conception is so hard to predict—unless you happen to have an ultrasound machine lying around—taking a prenatal before pregnancy helps kickstart the process of upping the body’s levels of key nutrients when its needed most.*
