I am three months postpartum this week and feeling more grateful than ever for my and baby’s health! After a seamless 41 weeks of pregnancy with great energy and bloodwork, and after experiencing quick healing post-birth, I wanted to share the supplements that supported us during this time.
I’ll start by saying I am so grateful to my husband who has worked tirelessly for years to become an expert in nutrition, supplementation, movement and everything in between. You can imagine my surprise at all of the baby books this man had read (and kept his highlighted copies of!) from before we even met. These resources have allowed him to have success with many of his pregnant clients in the past. Without him, I surely would not have been informed as to the importance of certain foods, nutrients, and even exercises to balance my body and align my hips for birth.
Note: I am not a doctor or certified nutritionist. This list is simply what worked well for me during pregnancy and is by no means a recommendation for every pregnant person.
DISCLAIMER: This article includes some affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission in association with purchases of these products, at no extra cost to you. I sincerely appreciate you using these links to support my articles and recipe developing!
Pre-Pregnancy
If you are planning your pregnancy, I recommend loading up on all of the supplements listed below in the main Supplement section for 6 months or more prior to conceiving. I had been taking fish oil and grass-fed beef liver for almost a year (after being vegan for almost 7 years!) before becoming pregnant. During that time, I had seen my health significantly improve. Starting many of your supplements before pregnancy will also help you understand how your body feels on these nutrients, giving you a better baseline for discerning what is the pregnancy and what is the supplement when it comes to the changes you’ll be experiencing in your body and mind.
Having adequate nutrition and supplementation pre-pregnancy also increases your chances of conception and supports a healthy pregnancy from Day 1. If this is not your first baby, your nutrient stores are more depleted now than they were with your first (this is the reason many midwives and health practitioners will advise mothers to do what they can to restore nutrient levels before conceiving again). Similarly, if you are someone who has had trouble conceiving or carrying in the past, adequate nutrition and supplementation can help you carry a healthy baby to term.
Pre-Pregnancy Detox
The one thing I recommend doing before your pregnancy that you should NOT attempt during your pregnancy (this would be dangerous for baby) is some detoxing. The liver does so much work during pregnancy that an opportunity to detox and hit the reboot button can help your body navigate the many demands of growing a baby. I will also mention that although morning sickness is generally considered being of unknown cause, many practitioners hypothesize that morning sickness is a sign of the body detoxifying. Hence, doing a detox pre-pregnancy could help you avoid some of these common symptoms. I was lucky enough to not have any morning sickness during our pregnancy.
Before you start planning a particular detox, I want to highlight that the purpose of a detox is predicated on limiting toxins in your daily life, which means buying fully organic produce, eliminating artificial ingredients, and avoiding industrial seed oils. It also applies the skincare we use every day, the cleaning supplies we use, and the water we drink. So I would by all means start there, if you aren’t already taking care in these areas. (Of course, that’s not to say we aren’t exposed to toxins daily that we can’t control! Don’t worry about these and bring a lot of intention into the areas you can control.)
When it comes to detoxing, I did a number of 1-3 day water fasts in the years and months before conception, which I found to be a great place to start for the detoxification benefits of fasting. My daily diet on non-fasting days was supplemented with detoxifying foods such as leafy greens and lots of supplemental chlorella, spirulina, and wild greens (my favorite supplemental greens product that I continued to take throughout the pregnancy is listed below!). Additionally, I highly recommend looking into something like this Push-Catch Liver Detox—something I plan to do before my next pregnancy.
Vegan?
I have been vegetarian for most of my life and vegan for the 7 years before pregnancy. Today, my diet is plant-based other than the non-vegan supplements listed below and the wild-caught Alaskan salmon and organic eggs from a local farm that I eat a few times a week. Even if you plan to have a vegan pregnancy, I invite you to read the list below with an open mind. So many of the building blocks for healthy babies are found in these highly nutrient-rich animal foods which I have found can also be very ethically sourced. In fact, when they aren’t ethically and organically sourced, they are often depleted of the nutrients we would expect to find!
Supplements
Rosita or Dropi Fish Oil: Fish oil provides critical nutrients to optimize baby’s brain development. For the first half of the pregnancy, I was taking Rosita fish oil, which seems to be the one of the highest quality fish oils on the market. Halfway through the pregnancy, I switched to the Icelandic brand Dropi, which is extremely high quality as well and about half the cost of Rosita. Fish oil is rich in both DHA and EPA as well as vital fat-soluble vitamins A and D. Both of these brands are guaranteed to be free of contaminants.
Grass-Fed Beef Liver: Growing up in Iceland, I used to love eating liver pate and liver sausages. In fact, every Friday in my grandparents’ home kindergarten we would have rice pudding with a side of liver sausage. I haven’t yet mustered the courage to consume this nutrient-rich food again, but I have been taking beef liver capsules daily. Liver provides vital nutrients for infant development, including choline, B12, and iron. Later in the pregnancy, I also started taking bone marrow and organ complex. Sourcing is so important when it comes to these animal-based supplements—I get all of mine from Enviromedica and Ancestral Supplements.
Prenatal Vitamin: Thorne makes the best prenatal I know of, and I also occasionally took Quicksilver’s Ultra Vitamin with a side of Thorne methyl-folate, a combination that definitely has superior absorption to the prenatal. The pre-natal made me very nauseous if I did not eat enough with it. For this reason, I opted for the latter combination every 3-4 days.
Choline or Pure PC: Choline is what human cell membranes are made of and it is vitally important for pregnancy. Choline is a big part of the reason why egg yolks are such an important food to consume while pregnant or nursing. Fortunately for fully plant-based mamas, you can take it in supplement form.
Liquid Iron: As baby grows and starts borrowing blood from mama, mama’s iron levels will drop. I used both Floradix (recommended by our midwives) and Gaia (certified organic) during the pregnancy. Taking it regularly is super important, trust me! Early on, I saw my iron levels steadily increase, and then they dropped again from the third to the fourth blood test when we relocated to Europe and I let my supplementation slip for a few weeks.
Quinton Isotonic: Hydration is so important for every function in our body, and you can imagine how important it is when you are growing a little one. Quinton is the best way to optimize hydration, and I believe everyone should be taking it.
Collagen and Cartilage Collagen: I had a hard time incorporating collagen to my diet but I felt amazing once I started taking it regularly. Collagen is incredible for supporting the growth of stronger tissues and joints in your baby. I take a scoop of powdered collagen every two days and cartilage collagen pills every day. I also happened to not get any stretch marks during the pregnancy, which may related!
Methyl-B12: Another blood and energy-builder, Quicksilver Scientific’s Methyl-B12, when held under the tongue for 30-seconds increases B12 levels in the blood in about 2-minutes.
Celtic Salt: We made the switch from pink Himalayan salt to Celtic sea salt after this podcast with Ben Greenfield, which explained how Celtic tends to be the highest in minerals and lowest in contaminants and anti-nutrients such as metals. Like taking Quinton, adding salt to water is important for hydration.
Glutathione: Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant and detoxifier. Glutathione capsules are not well absorbed and are likely a waste of money. Prior to pregnancy, I would get regular IV drips of glutathione, and during pregnancy, I was taking liposomal glutathione intermittently and occasional doses by subcutaneous injection around high-stress periods (such as our move to Europe).
Wild Greens Powder: This wild greens powder from HealthForce is absolutely amazing. It has so many vegetables that most of us would never be able to get into our diets even if we tried, plus they pair them with enzymes for better digestion. I LOVE this stuff, but if you’re not the type to be able to shoot down something pretty gross-tasting, they also have tablets!
Iodine: A natural source of iodine such as seaweed or kelp can support your thyroid during pregnancy.
Pregnancy Tea: Certain herbs have been used for centuries to support a healthy pregnancy. Specific pregnancy blends are great, and you can also simply get Raspberry Leaf Tea on its own. I would often make iced tea with this, then flavor it with lemon juice and stevia. Make sure to do your research on what herbs to avoid (licorice root, for example!) and do not drink lactation teas while you are pregnant.
Ginger Tea: During pregnancy, stomach upset and constipation can be common and ginger tea can support both. I love making fresh ginger tea and I also always kept the Traditional Medicinals ginger tea on hand.
Digestive Enzymes: For the reasons above, as well as simply to support any other new foods like beef liver or eggs being added to your diet, digestive enzymes can be great.
An Anti-Inflammatory Diet
You can’t supplement your way out of a bad diet, but smart supplementation can totally elevate your health and vitality, and baby’s health and vitality! I feel better now than I did a year before conception and in addition to feeling great, my nails are stronger than ever and my hair continues to grow thicker and longer. Use the above nutrients to supplement a varied anti-inflammatory diet, and remember that consistency is key.
If you have any questions about pregnancy supplementation, please leave me a comment below!
P.S. Keep an eye out for my breastfeeding supplementation guide!
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