Best Prenatal Vitamins
The best prenatal vitamin for most people is Nature Made Prenatal Multi + DHA: it is USP Verified, has the folic acid, iodine and iron US guidance asks a prenatal to carry, and costs $0.21 a day. Want choline too? Buy TheraNatal Complete.
By Erin Rose Updated October 23, 2026 How we score
Costs are list prices per day, checked October 21, 2026.
Our pick for: Most people
- Testing list
- USP VerifiedUSP tested it against its label before listing it
- Folic acid
- 800 mcgGuidance: 400 to 800 mcg a day
- Iodine
- 150 mcgWhat the American Thyroid Association asks for
- Iron
- 27 mgThe NIH amount for pregnancy
- DHA
- 200 mgAn omega-3; no choline
- A day
- $0.21List price; Amazon’s can differ
Why we pick it Of the 6 we score that are on a public testing list, it costs the least a day, and it has all three amounts pregnancy guidance sets. One softgel a day.
What you give up It has no choline, which pregnancy calls for at 450 mg a day. For choline, see TheraNatal Complete below. It also uses folic acid, not methylfolate, and that is fine: folic acid is the form shown to prevent neural tube defects (CDC). A list is not a promise for every bottle: in Consumer Reports’ 2026 lab test, a USP Verified Nature Made gummy was off on at least one nutrient. It did not test this softgel.
Which one is right for you?
Most prenatals hold the same vitamins, so we compare what differs: testing, the three amounts that matter, and cost a day.
Want choline and more DHA?
TheraNatal Complete has 250 mg choline and 300 mg DHA, plus 27 mg iron: the most choline of the prenatals we score that also have DHA and full iron. It is on NSF/ANSI 173. It costs $1.01 a day, about 5 times our pick, and it is 3 pills a day: 2 tablets and 1 fish oil softgel.
TheraNatal Complete
8.0/10 · $1.01 a day · 3 pills · NSF/ANSI 173
Can’t swallow pills?
OLLY The Essential Prenatal Gummies are the lowest cost gummy on a testing list (NSF/ANSI 173), at $0.43 a day, with 4 g of sugar. Like both gummies we score, they have no iron, so ask your doctor about a separate iron pill.
OLLY The Essential Prenatal Gummies
6.5/10 · $0.43 a day · 2 gummies
Want the lowest cost?
Deva Vegan Prenatal costs $0.16 a day and is vegan. It has 21 mg iron, under the 27 mg NIH amount, no DHA, and it is on no testing list. Our pick costs 5 cents more a day and is on one.
Deva Vegan Prenatal
5.5/10 · $0.16 a day · 1 tablet
Planning a pregnancy?
Start folic acid at least a month before you try (USPSTF). If you have had a pregnancy with a neural tube defect, ask your doctor about a much higher dose (ACOG). Do not add vitamin A pills: more than 3,000 mcg RAE a day of the retinol kind can cause birth defects (NIH).
Prenatal vitamins we scored, ranked
We chose best-selling prenatals on Amazon that we could price at the brand’s store or a named store, then scored all 14 on dose, testing, cost, label and recalls. Our pick is first, then the rest by score, with why each one is or is not a pick. Products with the same score are listed by cost. We did not score Perelel, which sells a different pack for each trimester.
| Product | A day | Why it is or is not a pick |
|---|---|---|
| Nature Made Prenatal Multi + DHA9.0/10 | $0.21 | Our pick: USP Verified, all three amounts, one softgel |
| TheraNatal Complete8.0/10 | $1.01 | NSF/ANSI 173; the most choline (250 mg) and DHA of the tested ones; 3 pills a day |
| Thorne Basic Prenatal8.0/10 | $1.23 | NSF Certified for Sport and NSF/ANSI 173; 45 mg iron, at the adult upper limit, and Consumer Reports measured more; no DHA |
| OLLY The Essential Prenatal Gummies6.5/10 | $0.43 | NSF/ANSI 173; the lowest cost tested gummy; no iron |
| OLLY Ultra Strength Prenatal Softgels6.5/10 | $0.67 | NSF/ANSI 173; only 7.4 mg iron |
| SmartyPants Prenatal Gummies6.5/10 | $1.17 | NSF/ANSI 173 gummy; no iron; 3 gummies a day |
| Bird&Be Complete Prenatal Pack6.5/10 | $1.50 | All three amounts, 300 mg DHA and 150 mg choline; matched every label amount in Consumer Reports’ 2026 test; on no testing list |
| Deva Vegan Prenatal5.5/10 | $0.16 | The lowest cost; 21 mg iron and no DHA; on no testing list |
| One A Day Prenatal Advanced5.0/10 | $0.50 | All three amounts and 200 mg DHA; on no testing list |
| Garden of Life Vitamin Code Raw Prenatal5.0/10 | $1.18 | All three amounts; no DHA; on no testing list |
| Pink Stork Total Prenatal + DHA5.0/10 | $1.20 | Says “third-party tested” but names no lab; 600 mcg DFE folate |
| Needed Prenatal Multi5.0/10 | $1.43 | 200 mg choline; no iron; the brand says it is tested, but it is on no list |
| Ritual Essential Prenatal5.0/10 | $1.48 | The most DHA (350 mg); 18 mg iron; the brand says it tests for heavy metals, allergens and microbes, but it is on no list |
| New Chapter Advanced Perfect Prenatal3.5/10 | $1.09 | 680 mcg DFE folate and 20 mg iron; on no testing list |
Do prenatal vitamins work?
The folic acid in them does. In trials, folic acid taken around conception cut neural tube defects by about two thirds (Cochrane, De-Regil 2015). That is why the US Preventive Services Task Force gives it its top grade.
Iron lowered anemia in pregnant women, from 7.4% to 4.0% in trials, though the evidence is low certainty (Cochrane 2024). Omega-3s lowered preterm birth a little, from 13.4% to 11.9% (Cochrane 2018). For a full multivitamin over folic acid and iron, most trials were in low- and middle-income countries, where it cut low birth weight slightly (Cochrane 2019). We found no proof it does more for women eating a typical US diet.
How to read the label
Check three amounts. Folic acid: 400 to 800 mcg, which labels list as 667 to 1,333 mcg DFE. Iodine: 150 mcg; 25 of 59 best-selling prenatals had none (Patel 2019). Iron: 27 mg. Gummies have none, so you may need a separate pill. Also check vitamin A: the retinol kind should stay well under 3,000 mcg RAE a day.
Questions people ask
Do I need a prenatal if I eat well?
Most people should, for the folic acid. It is hard to get 400 mcg a day from food alone, so ACOG advises a daily prenatal with at least 400 mcg, starting at least a month before pregnancy.
Is methylfolate better than folic acid?
It has not been shown to be. Folic acid is the only form of folate shown to prevent neural tube defects, and people with an MTHFR gene variant can use it too (CDC).
Which prenatals are third-party tested?
6 of the 14 we score are on a public testing list: Nature Made Prenatal Multi + DHA, TheraNatal Complete, OLLY The Essential Prenatal Gummies, OLLY Ultra Strength Prenatal Softgels, Thorne Basic Prenatal, SmartyPants Prenatal Gummies. See third-party tested prenatal vitamins for each list and what it checks.
How we score
Five marks: a day has the folic acid, iodine and iron pregnancy guidance sets, with nothing over a safe upper limit; the product is on a public testing list (a brand’s own claim earns half); a day’s cost at list price against the cheapest; the label states every amount; and the brand’s FDA recall record. Dose and testing are worth up to 3 points each, cost 2, label and recalls 1 each. Our method.
Sources
- US Preventive Services Task Force. “Folic Acid Supplementation to Prevent Neural Tube Defects: Preventive Medication.” Final recommendation, 2023. uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org
- De-Regil LM, et al. “Effects and safety of periconceptional oral folate supplementation for preventing birth defects.” Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015. PubMed 26662928
- CDC. “MTHFR gene variants and folic acid.” cdc.gov
- ACOG. “Healthy Eating During Pregnancy” (FAQ001). acog.org
- “Iodine supplementation for pregnancy and lactation, United States and Canada: recommendations of the American Thyroid Association.” Thyroid. 2006. PubMed 17042677
- Patel A, et al. “Iodine Content of the Best-Selling United States Adult and Prenatal Multivitamin Preparations.” Thyroid. 2019. PubMed 30266075
- Finkelstein JL, et al. “Daily oral iron supplementation during pregnancy.” Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024. PubMed 39145520
- Middleton P, et al. “Omega-3 fatty acid addition during pregnancy.” Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018. PubMed 30480773
- Keats EC, et al. “Multiple-micronutrient supplementation for women during pregnancy.” Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019. PubMed 30873598
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Iron, Choline and Vitamin A fact sheets for health professionals. ods.od.nih.gov
- Consumer Reports. Prenatal vitamin test: label accuracy and heavy metals. August 2026. consumerreports.org
- Testing lists: USP Verified, NSF/ANSI 173 and NSF Certified for Sport, read September 22, 2026. Label facts from each brand’s own page, a store’s facts panel or the NIH label database.