Can I Take Prenatal Vitamins While on the Birth Control Pill?

Prenatal vitamins provide pregnant women with nutrients essential for proper fetal growth and maternal health. These vitamins are not appropriate for women who are not pregnant, as they cause excesses in nutrients such as folic acid, iron and calcium. You should not take prenatal vitamins if you are on a birth control pill regimen and effectively avoiding pregnancy. Instead, take an age and gender specific multivitamin for your nutrition supplement needs.

Folic Acid Intake

• Mayo Clinic nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D. reports that healthy adults only need 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. According to The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, Prenatal vitamins provide the 800 to 1,000 micrograms of folic acid recommended for pregnant women and women trying to conceive. Women using birth control who do not intend to get pregnant should avoid excessive folic acid intake. Excessive amounts of folic acid in people who are not pregnant can make vitamin B-12 deficiency and associated symptoms difficult or impossible to detect.

Iron Intake

• Dr. Zeratsky also informs that recommended iron intake for women of childbearing age is 18 milligrams per day. Women who are pregnant need 27 milligrams, which they can receive from prenatal vitamins. You will only need 18 milligrams if you are taking birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. You only need 8 milligrams if you are older than 50 years and taking birth control pills for hormonal therapy. Excessive iron intake can be toxic, as it builds up in the body and causes problems like nausea, vomiting, constipation and diarrhea. Excessive iron intake can even be fatal.

Calcium Intake

• While prenatal vitamins may contain excessive amounts of iron and folic acid, they do not contain high calcium levels. In fact, prenatal vitamins do not inherently provide a full day's worth of calcium for any healthy adult. Dr. Zeratsky recommends that women of childbearing age using birth control pills to prevent pregnancy get 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily. Women older than 50 years who may be taking birth control pills for hormonal therapy need 1,200 milligrams of calcium each day. Prenatal vitamins only contain 200 to 300 milligrams of calcium. This is well short of the amount of calcium necessary to help avoid the risk of osteoporosis and other calcium deficiency-related health problems. Women on birth control pills relying on prenatal vitamins for calcium will be at risk of falling well short of calcium daily intake requirements. Instead, they should eat calcium rich foods or try supplements that provide more calcium.