Getting Prepared...Popping Pills

After my health check the Doc had solved one problem for me, as she'd prescribed me with Folic Acid, which I picked up as part of my overall costs that day at Bumrungrad hospital (THB1,080 for 6 months of 5mg Foliamin Tablets). So I knew I was covered for Folic Acid, but I didn't know what, or where, I could get overall pre-natal (or pregnancy) vitamins.

Looking in Boots, which was the most obvious place for me to go being a Brit, and also the easiest as the pharmacists normally speak English, I found that they simply do not have pre-natal, or pregnancy, vitamins as we do back home.

So what are the options?

• Multivitamins plus Iron
• Multivitamins Minerals plus Ginseng
• Vitamin C
• Ginkgo
• Evening Primrose Oil
• Calcium D
• Calcium D plus Collagen
• Calcium plus Vitamin D plus Minerals
• Fish Oil
• Fish Oil plus Evening Primrose Oil
• Cod Liver Oil
• Gingko plus Fish Oil
• Garlic
• Zinc

They also have Blackmore's readily available in Thailand, but they follow similar themes to above, although you can get standalone Folic Acid as well.

I didn't really want to be popping more than one vitamin tablet a day, along with the Foliamin, and I didn't want to to take too much Iron as a supplement either, so what could I do?

Assuming you live in Thailand you may have already found that it isn't always easy to get a balanced diet in the sense we are used to. Getting a variety of vegetables into your diet, for example, is difficult if you don't cook at home every day and live next to a Gourmet Supermarket. So it was all the more important at this point in my life that I really should be taking some extra vitamins, that I knew I could trust, and would provide me with the right quantities for pre-natal preparation.

But i'm afraid ladies that I simply didn't find a Thai solution for this. Even the Doctor's look blank at you when you try to ask about an alternative to Vitabiotics Pregnacare.

My solution...I did a huge Boots shop when I was back in the UK and bought 6-12 months of Pre-natal and Pregnancy Supplements. On the plus side you will earn your friend/mum a lot of Boots Advantage points (my last "TTC" Boots shopping trip in the UK earned my mother in law GBP18 of points!)

One extra thing I have recently learnt, and I will pass on to you, is that there are sometimes concerns with taking Vitamin K with anticoagulants. Following my first miscarriage I was immediately put onto "baby aspirin" for my second pregnancy. Doctor's here seem very quick to put you on medication that they think might help (and will certainly not harm). As aspirin is an anticoagulant I now pay more attention to content of the Pregnancy vitamins I choose, and for now my doctor advises to only take pure Folic Acid for the first trimester. But that is just based on my medical history and you should always listen to your healthcare provider.