Hellobee Boards

That's interesting! I just checked mine and sure enough, 4,000 IU. I take Spring Valley. Did it say what kind of birth defects?

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Okay that's good to know. I'll keep an eye on the foods that contain vitamin A and try not to go crazy. I can't believe some people take double vitamins!

The issue is the source of vitamin A, preformed vitamin A (listed as palmitate, retinol or vitamin A acetate) is found in animal sources such as egg yolks, milk and liver. Beta-carotene is found in fruits and vegetables. Vitamin A is important for developing vision and immune function however too much of the preformed vitamin A can be harmful, no more than 2500 IU's per day is recommended. Prenatal vitamins contain a safe combination of the 2 forms and unless you are consuming large amounts of animal sources (especially liver) there is very little risk.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: yup, I take Perfect Prenatal by new chapter because the vitamin A in them is 100 % beta carotene, which is safe in pregnancy vs. vitamin A palmitate which is the potentially hazardous one, derived from animal.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: just looked at mine and it has 4000 IU Vitamin A ( retinyl palmitate) but it says it's only 50% of the daily value for pregnant or lactating women???

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: is it not realistic to think I cover the rest in my diet? Maybe I need to run, not walk, and get a better prenatal!!!!

I just looked into this today and was thinking about changing my pre-natal (mine also had 4000 IU of the retinyl version), but after looking at the actual study, I found that the incidences of high doses of vitamin A for the babies that had the birth defects were basically either before the mothers even got pregnant, or in the first 6 weeks. Plus the sample size of the study was extremely small. Seeing that I am 6 weeks along already, I decided I'm not going to change my vitamin (I also took this same brand for my last pregnancy and my LO is fine).

Anyway, just wanted to provide a bit more context to this thread. Obviously it is still useful info for those looking to be cautious, especially those are not pregnant yet.

So I think you might be confusing micrograms with IU. You can have up to 5000 IU, which is 1500 micrograms. Defects only happened in mothers taking over 3000 micrograms, or 10000 IU. So if your prenatal has 4000 IU, that should be okay.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: yes, it says 5000 IU or less. Not 3000 IU or less, so I thought maybe at first you were thinking mcg?

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Well, I can only find the info that says 5000 IU or less, not 3000 IU or less, so I hope that it is just 5000. I think I have to trust 5000 IU because logically it is all I can find. I had to switch to gummies and they have 4000 IU.

@Veggiemama: I took the same and felt confident in the decision because of how it is sourced. I also don't eat any meat or take cod liver oil.