Label Rant Part 2

Because nothing's more fun than random bitching, right?

In getting ready to try-to-concieve again (hoping that third time's the charm, right?) I've gone from taking no pills or supplements at all to lining them up on the kitchen counter like an old lady. I'm now taking: a prenatal daily multi-vitamin, a fish-oil supplement, an additional, 1,000IU Vitamin D supplement, and am about to start taking the additional B6 again as well. Oddly, the vitamin D is also derived from fish-liver oil, but it makes no claims for containing omega-3's, nor do the fish-oil capsules claim to have vitamin D. The vitamin D also contains a fair amount of naturally-occuring Vitamin A; because of this, it has the standard pregnancy warning on the label as too much A can be dangerous then. I decided to compare the amount of A in the D supplement with the amount found in the prenatal vitamins and it's actually the same amount.

What's funny is that the prenatal vitamins ALSO contain the pregnancy warning, as do the fish-oil caps and the B6 pills. I just don't get it. I can understand why a product containing Vitamin A would carry the "consult your doctor" warning, but prenatal vitamins are specifically designed for pregnant women. "Hello? Doctor? Is it ok if I take pregnancy vitamins while pregnant? It is? Oh thank you!" And B6 is commonly prescribed to ease discomfort in pregnancy; the reason I have a bottle is because my doctor recc'ed the stuff for my morning sickness. And fish oil? Which contains nutrients that are both absolutely essential for the growing fetus (DHA and EPA) and hard to get elsewhere without eating a ton of mercury-tainted fish? What could possibly earn fish oil the consult-your-doc warning?

And don't even get me started on the idea that only the all-mighty doctor knows what's best for the hapless, ignorant mama-to-be. Because, you know, we can't possibly have the means and intelligence to research and make our own decisions.