# Pregnancy

Most people arrive with two questions: what to take, and which pack to buy. The first has an official answer. The NHS advises 400 micrograms of folic acid every day for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day, and points to free vitamins through the Healthy Start scheme. The second question is the one Supplementscanner answers: the price of each product, tablet by tablet, across the UK stores it reads, and the pack facts that make two of them comparable. Whether you take anything at all is a matter for your midwife or GP.

Best and median price per ingredient, updated 19 October 2026

| Ingredient | Best price | Product | Median price | Shops | Products |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Folic acid / folate](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/folic-acid) | £0.03 /capsule | [Folic Acid 400mcg](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/simply-supplements-folic-acid-400mcg-132214) (Simply Supplements) | – | 8 | 11 |
| [Vitamin D3](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/vitamin-d3) | £0.02 /capsule | [Vegan Vitamin D3 400iu Tablets](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/simply-supplements-vegan-vitamin-d3-400iu-tablets-133415) (Simply Supplements) | £0.12 /capsule | 9 | 105 |
| [Prenatal multivitamin](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/prenatal-multivitamin) | £0.15 /capsule | [Balanced Women's Conception - 60 Veg Caps](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/balanced-balanced-womens-conception-60-veg-caps-147996) (Vitamin Planet) | – | 2 | 25 |
| [Omega-3 / DHA](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/omega-3) | £0.05 /capsule | [Omega 3 for Kids 500mg – 180 capsules / [Multibuy 1]](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/simply-supplements-omega-3-for-kids-500mg-180-capsules-multibuy-1-132392) (Simply Supplements) | £0.22 /capsule | 10 | 126 |
| [Iron](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/iron) | £0.04 /capsule | [New Era No. 4 Ferr. Phos. - 240 Tablets](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/new-era-new-era-no-4-ferr-phos-240-tablets-128929) (Vitamin Planet) | – | 8 | 28 |
| [Calcium](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/calcium) | £0.04 /capsule | [New Era No.2 Calc Phos - 240 Tablets](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/new-era-new-era-no2-calc-phos-240-tablets-144755) (Vitamin Planet) | £0.10 /capsule | 10 | 38 |
| [Iodine](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/search?q=iodine) | £5.94 total price | [Together Health Organic Iodine - 30 Capsules](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/together-health-together-health-organic-iodine-30-capsules-133157) (Vitamin Planet) | – | 1 | 1 |
| [Probiotics](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/probiotics) | £0.11 /capsule | [Natures Aid Acidophilus Complex 5 Billion - 180 Capsules](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/natures-aid-natures-aid-acidophilus-complex-5-billion-180-capsules-150701) (Vitamin Planet) | £0.53 /capsule | 10 | 161 |
| [Choline](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/search?q=choline) | £11.59 total price | [L-Choline – 120 capsules / [Multibuy 1]](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/p/simply-supplements-l-choline-120-capsules-multibuy-1-133518) (Simply Supplements) | – | 3 | 6 |

## Iron: the compound weight, the elemental figure, and which one compares

The official advice names iron only where a blood test shows a shortage. An [iron](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/iron) pack may print the compound and its weight (ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate or iron bisglycinate, in milligrams), the elemental iron in milligrams, or both. Only the elemental figure is comparable from one tub to the next, because each compound carries a different share of iron in the same weight. A tub that prints the compound weight alone leaves you without a number to line up. What each form is, and how it is written on a pack, is set out on [iron](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/goal/iron).

## Folic acid: 400 micrograms, 5 mg and the folate spelling

The [folic acid](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/folic-acid) category ranks every folic acid product in one per-capsule list; three kinds sit in it, and telling them apart is your job. A 400 microgram tablet is one kind. A 5 mg tablet holds twelve and a half times as much, which the same advice mentions for some people, on prescription. And a product labelled folate, methylfolate or 5-MTHF is another form, with a dose that may be printed in micrograms or in micrograms DFE. Match the form and the dose first; only then does the per-capsule price mean anything.

NHS advice attaches a period to folic acid and runs vitamin D through the pregnancy. Nothing under Bronnen prints a stop date for a prenatal multi; a tub bought for the third trimester states in its ingredients whether folic acid is still in it, and at what dose.

## Vitamin D3: one figure, two units

A [vitamin D3](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/vitamin-d3) pack prints its dose in micrograms and often in IU as well; 10 micrograms is 400 IU. Read whichever unit both packs share, match the figure, and only then set the prices side by side. Drops are another case: the dose is per drop, and the bottle price says nothing until the drops per bottle and the micrograms per drop are known.

## Prenatal multi or general multi: the line that decides

A [prenatal multivitamin](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/prenatal-multivitamin) has a category of its own, apart from the [general multivitamin](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/multivitamin). NHS guidance puts vitamin A in one sentence: "Do not take cod liver oil or supplements containing vitamin A (retinol)". Whether a given tub contains it is checked in its ingredient list, not on the front of the pack: the words are retinol and retinyl acetate, while beta-carotene is a separate entry and not the same thing.

Three further facts decide whether a multi can be set against loose tubs. How many pieces make up a day: a low price for each piece, taken twice a day, is a higher price per day than it looks. Whether the folic acid inside is folic acid or methylfolate, which matters as much here as it does in a single-ingredient tub. And whether DHA is in the tablet, in a capsule of its own, or not included at all. The label words are explained in our guide to reading a supplement label (in Dutch).

## DHA, calcium, iodine, probiotics and choline: the figures kept off the front

Supplementscanner compares each of these on price per capsule; the pack figure to match first is what changes. For [omega-3](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/omega-3) it is DHA, printed apart from EPA: a fish oil lists both, in a ratio of its own, while an algae oil puts nearly all of its omega-3 into DHA. The line-by-line reading is in our fish oil guide (in Dutch). For [calcium](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/calcium) it is elemental calcium in milligrams. For [probiotics](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/category/probiotics) it is the strains named and the CFU count.

Iodine and choline have no category of their own and are compared on pack price: iodine, as potassium iodide or kelp, with micrograms of iodine per unit, and choline, where the milligrams to read are choline itself rather than choline bitartrate, a heavier salt. Gummies and chewables print a dose per piece and are compared per piece on the same figures. For the months after the birth, the same ingredients return on [breastfeeding](https://supplementscanner.co.uk/goal/breastfeeding).

## Sources

- [NHS: Vitamins, supplements and nutrition in pregnancy](https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/pregnancy-vitamins-and-supplements/)

## Frequently asked questions

### What supplements should I take while pregnant?

What people buy around pregnancy is folic acid, vitamin D3, a prenatal multi, omega-3 with DHA and iron; NHS advice names folic acid and vitamin D, and iron only where a blood test shows a shortage. Supplementscanner shows what each of those costs across UK stores, one tablet or capsule at a time, with the pack figures that make two products comparable.

### What is the best pregnancy supplement to take?

Best is not printed on a label, and a price comparison cannot rank on it. What a label does print can be matched: micrograms of folic acid, micrograms or IU of vitamin D, retinol or beta-carotene in the ingredients, and the number of tablets that make up a day. Once those line up between two products, the price decides.

### Why stop folic acid at 12 weeks?

The 12-week period comes from the NHS, which advises 400 micrograms of folic acid a day up to that point. Why it ends there, and whether to continue afterwards, is for a midwife or GP to answer, not a label or a price. If the question is about a prenatal multi, its ingredients state whether folic acid is still included and at what dose.

### Which iron supplement is best in pregnancy?

Start with the elemental iron in milligrams and set it against the same figure on the other tub; two tubs only compare at the same amount. The compound weight, ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate or iron bisglycinate in milligrams, is a bigger number that tells you the form, not how much iron a tablet holds. A tub that shows the compound weight alone cannot be placed against another.

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Source: Supplementscanner, https://supplementscanner.co.uk/goal/pregnancy (live prices per product)

Information for comparison, not medical advice. Ingredients are chosen based on what people often search for, not as a treatment.