A healthy baby starts with a healthy pregnancy.  Staying healthy during your pregnancy isn’t always within your control.  Sometimes complications happen that you can’t control.  The things you can control include your diet, exercise, and prenatal care.  It can be hard to stay on top of all the recommendation during your pregnancy.  Here is information on a new recommendation regarding prenatal supplements.

Research has found that iodine is important to the neurological development of a growing fetus.  Iodine is a necessary component for producing thyroid hormone, a key building block for neurodevelopment.  A deficiency in thyroid hormone can cause mental retardation.

The American Thyroid Association recommends that pregnant and nursing mothers take a vitamin supplement that contains 150 micrograms (mcg) of iodine to help them reach the recommended daily intake of 220 mcg for pregnant women and 290 mcg for nursing mothers.  You can read the full write up from the ATA here.

Pregnant and nursing mothers will need to read the label of their prenatal vitamins careful as studies have found that only about 51% of prenatal vitamins contain the recommend amount of iodine.  This, of course, may change now that the ATA is out with their new recommendations.  If you are unsure if the prenatal vitamin you are taking contains the recommended amount of iodine talk to your doctor, and be sure to also talk to your doctor if you have questions about the recommendations.

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