Why “Just Take Your Prenatal” Isn’t Enough — and What I Recommend Instead

You hear it all the time: “Just take your prenatals.”

As if it’s that simple.

The reality is, many women are already undernourished before pregnancy even begins. Modern food quality, depleted soils, and chronic stress from fast-paced lifestyles leads to nutrient depletion. This means a lot of women enter pregnancy with reserves that are already running low. Then pregnancy dramatically increases nutrient demands, and we’re told a standard prenatal will cover it.

Except many women don’t even tolerate their prenatals.

Nausea, digestive upset, gagging, or feeling worse after taking them is incredibly common. So doses get skipped. Supplements get abandoned altogether. Or women push through something that doesn’t feel supportive at all while their body is doing one of the most demanding jobs it will ever do.

One of the biggest shifts I experienced in my own motherhood journey, along with working with other moms, was realizing how much more support a woman’s body actually needs during this critical time, not less. Pregnancy, postpartum, and even the months leading up to conception are incredibly demanding seasons, yet our nutrition standards haven’t evolved to match that reality. In fact, 95% of women experience nutritional depletion, even when taking a prenatal vitamin. 

That realization is what led me to look more closely at prenatal vitamins and ultimately to the one I now recommend most in my practice.

Why most prenatals fall short

Most prenatal vitamins on the market are formulated to meet Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs). While RDAs are helpful for preventing outright deficiency, they were never designed to support optimal health during pregnancy or postpartum. Many are based on outdated data and do not reflect the real-world demands placed on a woman’s body during preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum.

Needed Prenatal Multi Essentials provides 5x more nutrition than outdated Recommended Dietary Allowances and 8x more nutrition than leading prenatals.*

In my work as a functional nurse and health coach, I see how common nutrient depletion truly is, even in women who are eating well and doing “all the right things.” Fatigue, brain fog, hair changes, and mood shifts are often brushed off as “normal” parts of pregnancy and postpartum, when in reality they can reflect increased nutritional needs that simply aren’t being met.

The prenatal I recommend and why

When people ask me which prenatal I recommend, I go with Needed Prenatal Multi because it focuses on nutrient quality, form, and personalization — not just meeting minimum requirements. Not to mention, it is formulated based on over 630 studies and feedback from Needed’s 15,000+ practitioner collective.

One key reason is because Needed uses methylated folate instead of folic acid. This is the active form of folate, which the body (and most of the population) can absorb more easily, especially during pregnancy when folate supports normal neural tube development and healthy cell growth.

Needed Prenatal Multi also provides active nutrient forms overall and clinically studied amounts of important nutrients like vitamin D3 and choline, which are often underdosed in traditional prenatal vitamins.

Needed Prenatal Multi (3-capsule formula) delivers more comprehensive nutrition than many leading prenatals and includes key nutrients like choline, zinc, selenium, and vitamin B12 that are commonly underrepresented. In fact, Needed Prenatal Multi Essentials provides 8x more nutrition than leading prenatals.*

You will also find that iron and omega-3s are not included for good reason. This is so that they can be personalized based on labs and individual needs, an approach that supports truly individualized care.

As a functional nurse, third-party testing and ingredient transparency are non-negotiable for me. I want to know that what I’m putting into my own body is consistently safe, clean, and high quality.

That’s one more reason I trust Needed. Every single batch is third-party tested, and the brand holds certifications that reflect a deep commitment to purity, sustainability, and responsible sourcing, including the Clean Label Project Purity Award, Certified Pesticide Free, Climate Label Certified, Certified B Corp, and 1% for the Planet.

It’s not just about what’s included in a prenatal, it’s about the standards behind it.

If you’re looking for a prenatal that supports optimal health and aligns with a functional approach, Needed Prenatal Multi is the one I trust and recommend.

Learn more about Needed Prenatal Multi here:

👉 https://thisisneeded.com/products/prenatal-multi-essentials

*Based on the total daily dosage of nutrients provided compared to leading prenatals as determined by IRI sales data as of December 2025.

FTC / FDA Disclosure
This post is sponsored by Needed, a brand I genuinely recommend to my patients and use personally. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.