Which Multivitamin is the best for pregnant women

[downvalley]

Hello, Does anybody know which Multivitamin is the best for ''pregnant women'' (pregnancy period: 7 weeks) which I can find in Helsinki? Thanks in advance..

[leisl]

Ask the Neuvola or the pharmacist. There are formulations especially for pregnancy.

[chickensexer]

It was really easy to find what Neuvola recommended: just go into any pharmacy and ask for a "Raskaus ja imetys" (pregnancy and breastfeeding) vitamin complex. It says literally that on the plastic bottle and such bottle will last you almost 4 months.

Another thing - although you might not need it, but just to be aware - in my case I developed iron deficiency earlier in my pregnancy but was clueless about it, being led to believe by my Neuvola nurse that being so debilitatingly exhausted and flu-like sick all the time "is just normal during pregnancy; different women have it differently but it's all normal and nothing to worry about, just take Panadol and rest". Which by the way is by far the most common single sentence in her communication with me throughout the whole time... It was only by chance that while in a SPA abroad their staff took a lot more pronounced interest in the very fact of my pregnancy, suspected iron deficiency and ran an express hemoglobin test, which came back rather pathetically low. So they put me on red meat and liver rich diet immediately, along with iron supplement. I started feeling a lot better within days and upon my return to Finland requested that same express hemoglobin test during my Neuvola appointments. The numbers were on the road to the norm. And what is the norm - again, I had it found out elsewhere than from my nurse...

So, just something to keep an eye on, and if the need be - iron food supplements are easily found in local pharmacies, too.

[Rip]

I'm quite surprised that they did not test for iron/hemoglobin here. I thought it was standard procedure. Possibly apart from vitamin-D deficiency (which would be endemic here without supplements) I'd think that would be the most common problem.

[chickensexer]

Yes, a private ob-gyn i finally went to after months of "it's all normal" about anything and everything got surprised, too. Buy that's not the only thing that surprised me. All this time i have not been checked by a doctor though the Neuvola programme even once. There was one 15min doctor appointment at around 3 month, but that was just a questionnaire about my health history, generic "how do you feel?" and listening to the baby's heartbeat for the first time. The seond and the last Neuvola doctor appointemnt is scheduled for the 37th week. That's when they supposedly will check me and the baby for the readiness for the delivery, if my understanding is correct.

And that's it. The rest of the times it's just self-service measurements of blood pressure, weight and those 2 "sticks" urine test, of which one i don't even know what is it about. To my question about it I recieved an earful of the usual "it's about some protein in your urine, to make sure everything is normal". Plus, thre is a heartbeat check and since 2 weeks ago also measuring my belly, which i also don't know what it that measurement about because - yeah, you guessed it: "to make sue everything is normal".

Speaking of those sticks test. The weirdest thing of all was when during one of the visits when I put the marking for that mysterious protein according to the color-coding instructions in the bathroom, which that particular time was a one-notch-above-the-zero-level. When the nurse saw that mark in my pregnancy card, she asked me not to do that anymore and unless the result is really-really way into the high end of the scale just put the zero-level mark into the card. "Because otherwise we have to test you for that additionally in a lab, which is epensive and would be just a waste of money because I'm sure everything is just normal".

Yeah, I know it came to off-top and would be more aapropriate in the next door thread, and I almost promised not to rant. But oh well, it came out.

[leisl]

Finland is also a country where they don't recommend a folic acid supplement, despite scientific evidence that a lack of folic acid produces neural tube defects. I believe the reasoning is that there is enough in an average Finnish diet.

Since immigrants do not necessarily eat an average Finnish diet you might want to add a supplement yourself.

[leisl]

To my question about it I recieved an earful of the usual "it's about some protein in your urine, to make sure everything is normal".

This is about pre-eclampsia, which is extremely dangerous to the mother. I would suggest people ignore the idea of not following instructions or just putting a zero. If you get a result, write it accurately and ask for follow-up tests. If it is pre-eclampsia or eclampsia they should be watching carefully as only real treatment is birth. By 37 weeks decisions are not difficult (since 37w is not premature), but earlier on, they will have to take steps to protect the baby's lungs.

[chickensexer]

Thank you leisl, I also read on that protein test on my own by now. At least pre-eclampsia is not a concern in my case up til now as the blood pressure has been very good.

I'm afraid i'll have to disagree with you on the folic acid though. Recommendation to start that multivitamin complex with folic acid that i mentioned in the beginning of the thread came as the very first thing after congratulating me when i made my first call to Neuvola after getting 2 happy stripes back in the very beginning. And the lady on the phone emphasized the importance of starting on the folic acid ASAP. Maybe the change occurred recently. I also heard somewhere that the proud "Finnish diet already has plenty of it" has been revisited due to realization that not many people nowadays really eat according to the glorious Finnish diet.

The local system is not evil or inadequate by any chance and if anything starts going wrong they intervene very seriously and succesfully. But since for many foreigners culturally pregnancy has somewhat different approach back in our home countries, we feel let down by a system that doesn't really cater to that approach.

[leisl]

Good to hear that all is well. And re:folic acid, good that they recommend it now. Hopefully all the nurses are advising it now. As that wasn't what an acquaintance told me about a year ago. The couple we know (Malaysian) was rather upset that prenatal care in Finland seems so hands-off. Which sounds like your experience too. I do not know if they were in public system or maybe some private doctor. Maybe that is why.

And you are very right. Not many people really live on fish and potatoes anymore.

[Upphew]

Good to hear that all is well. And re:folic acid, good that they recommend it now. Hopefully all the nurses are advising it now. As that wasn't what an acquaintance told me about a year ago.

They have been recommending it for few weeks: https://www.thl.fi/-/uudet-lapsiperheid ... an-yhdessa