Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 0:01
As soon as we learned we were pregnant with twins, we received a long list of to do's and don'ts. We were told that our diet needs to change even if we were healthy eaters before, and that we need to ensure we get the right nutrients for our bodies and for the growing babies inside. Is it really that different for twin pregnancies? Today, we're looking at how using prenatal vitamins might be different for twin pregnancies. This is Twin Talks!

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 0:24
Welcome to Twin Talks. My name is Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald, and I'm your host. So just a little bit about myself, I have a set of identical girls. And they were followed by a singleton girl. So my husband pretty much gave up and we got a male dog named Shadow. And we have been complete ever since. And today, we also have guests with us and we will introduce them in just a bit. So now if you haven't already, be sure to visit our website and https://newmommymedia.com, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, which keeps you updated on all the episodes we release each week. And another great way to stay updated is to hit that subscribe button in your podcast app. And if you're looking for a way to get even more involved with our show, then check out our membership club. It's called Mighty Moms. And that's where we chat more about the topics discussed here in the show. And it's also an easy way to learn about our recordings, so you can join us live. Well. Now let's meet today's panel of guests. We have Sunny Gault, as well as our expert Doreen Bloch. So as we get started, I'd love for all of you to introduce yourselves to our listeners and share a little bit about your experience with prenatal vitamins. So Doreen, let's start with you,

Doreen Bloch 2:02
Hi, everyone. My name is Doreen Bloch and I'm the founder and CEO of Ellement, the company revolutionising prenatal vitamins. I studied nutrition science at Stanford University. And my background prior to founding Ellement was in data science. So I am definitely a numbers person who is obsessed with health and wellness. And I'm also a mom to an amazing four-year-old son named Ethan.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 2:24
All right, well, thanks, Doreen. I'm excited. We're gonna really get into this. I am very curious to see what you have learned and pick your brain.

Doreen Bloch 2:32
Yes. Well, you know, five years ago, when I became pregnant being a data-driven person, I immediately started to learn as much as I could about what would be a life changing milestone. And so I knew I needed to start taking a prenatal supplement due to the folic acid. I think that's something that a lot of us may have heard about casually, even before pregnancy, but the conversation with my doctor about which product to use left me feeling like there had to be more to the story. My daughter, and I think so many other moms to be have experienced this basically told me it didn't matter which product I used, and that they're all the same. But as I looked at the labels, I saw different ingredients, different dosages, different form factors. And so ultimately, as I think so many people have had to do up to date, I had to sort of cobbled together my own supplement routine with multiple brands figure out the optimal timing, and I wondered why there wasn't a better and more personalized solution. So it took me a few years to learn the full story. And after meeting with OBGYN maternal fetal medicine, specialist, dieticians, manufacturers, etc. That led me to creating elements.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 3:43
Oh, that was great. And let's turn it over to Sunny and Emily. So, Sunny, so what do you know about prenatal vitamins before you started taking them?

Sunny Gault 3:49
Um, what my mom told me. Any information my mom gave me about her pregnancies, which, you know, was a good 25 years prior, probably not that up-to -ate. I was really surprised in general, with prenatal vitamins, whether it was with my single babies or my twin girls, I did not get instruction on this. And I remember going to appointments. And you know, you hear a lot about, oh, you're pregnant, take your vitamins, right, but nobody was giving me any guidance. I mean, I thought I was just I don't know, that would be one of the first things because I'm thinking well, my body is creating multiple people at one time. I'm sure that affects nutrition, I'm sure that affects, you know, supplements and things like that, but they never talked to me about anything. They would run tests a lot. And as long as the tests were okay, then that was it. So not very much information. I would say I started doing a little bit of research on my own. For me personally, a lot of vitamins kind of make me queasy. So I was looking for stuff. That's why I was asking a lot of questions. I was It's like, well, what do you recommend? And is that going to make my stomach upset? So I was more focused on that really than what was inside the vitamin, which sounds ridiculous. But I was told I had to take a supplements, you know, we hear all the time, prenatal vitamins gotta take, um, but very little guidance, at least for me.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 5:21
Oh, my gosh, you know, and I can say the same thing as well, it seems like for, you know, for twin pregnancies, there's, you know, just said, there's this this long list of things to do and don't do, but it just seems like nutrition is really not one of them. And, you know, even just dietary guidelines. I mean, they tell you, Oh, well, you know, don't eat blue cheese dressing and don't eat sushi and this, but it's like, Well, okay, but what am I supposed to do? And like, oh, yeah, take your prenatal vitamins. But is it? Yeah. Is it? Is it diff? Is it different? I mean, I found this the same thing. It's like, well, just get your folic acid. Well, okay, but what does that look like? I mean, am I supposed to take more folic acid? I mean, you're right. Yeah.

Sunny Gault 6:03
Yeah. And they don't, they don't really tell you what it's for, to like, if someone's gonna tell me to do something, I want to know why and what does it do? And I felt like I wasn't getting the why behind all this, just take folic acid? Well, you know, it's good. You know, whatever. You just need to have it when you're pregnant. Well, why? You know.

Doreen Bloch 6:23
It's so important. I think it speaks to this shift overall, in medicine today, where people are much more informed than ever, we have all the information right at our fingertips. And I think the medical establishment is still evolving with that. And nutrition is often an afterthought, even though it really shouldn't be.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 6:41
And Emily, what did you know about prenatal vitamins before he started taking them?

Emily Abcede 6:41
I had done a little bit of research, but honestly, the most I knew about it was someone that I respected line that spoke about her experience with prenatal vitamins, I kind of followed just her recommendations. And that was that she had a good prenatal vitamin that she liked her recommendation was to start it. Well, before you were planning to have to get pregnant if that was an option.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 6:41
Oh, that's great that you had a some type of a resource, just in addition to your regular doctor. Yes, I know, a lot of people don't have that.

Doreen Bloch 6:41
Yes, it's great that they recommended to start well before pregnancy. It's so important because it takes time to build up those nutrients in the in the blood, so and in the body. So it's really important for people to start at least three months before conception if they can.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 6:42
So we're gonna we're gonna take a break, and then we come back, we're gonna dive into what you've discovered in your process and in your journey.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 6:55
So today, we're talking all about prenatal vitamins and considering what we need for twin pregnancy. So Doreen Bloch is the founder of a woman's a company that's reinventing prenatal supplements by customizing them for each woman's needs. So Doreen, help us understand why prenatal vitamins are so important. And especially for twin pregnancies. I mean, don't we get the right kind of nutrition that we need if we're eating a healthy diet?

Doreen Bloch 7:20
Prenatal vitamins are supplements, and they really should be thought of in that way, it's to supplement a healthy diet. So while it's ideal to get all of our vitamins from food, the unfortunate reality is that people's diets today are not perfect by and large, and most people already have nutritional deficiencies even before becoming pregnant. Vitamin D is a very common deficiency B12, as well. And so it's been shown through many clinical studies at this point that prenatal vitamins are really the key to ensuring that pregnant mamas get everything they need to stay healthy while they are gestating new babies. And so that's why prenatal vitamins are so critical, because this is the most nutritionally demanding time for babies and for mamas.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 8:07
Wow. You know, I mean, that's really interesting thought, because I think we think of eating healthy, and we should get everything that we need. But we really just don't know how much or what we need. I mean, we know it's hard to measure, right?

Doreen Bloch 8:21
It is, it is. And that's why it's just so good for peace of mind. And also for you know, the real data showing that supplementation is the key to make sure that you're getting everything that you need consistently as well, and that it is adjusted over time also to the stage of pregnancy, because certain stages of pregnancy are more nutritionally demanding in different ways. Now, this is something that traditional prenatal vitamins don't get, right. But that's where element comes in. And part of the customization that we do. But prenatal vitamins are absolutely critical to make sure that you're covering all of your baselines, especially during a twin pregnancy.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 9:02
Well, so I think you're saying that the nutrient needs are different within let's say, the first trimester versus the third trimester of pregnancy. Is that right? Right. Wow. I've never heard that before.

Doreen Bloch 9:17
Yes, it's that folate or folic acid is much more important in the first trimester, but by the third trimester, it's less important. That's because the neural tube has already been developed in the first trimester. Calcium, there is a much stronger requirement in the second and third trimester is when the baby's bone structure and skeletal system is developing. Another one that people often forget to think about early because it does take time to build up in the blood is iron. By the ninth month of pregnancy, blood volume doubles. And so that's why we see a lot of pregnant mamas in the third trimester being iron deficient or anemic. And so it is just yet Another one to keep top of mind. But absolutely, there are different requirements throughout the stages of pregnancy depending on what the baby is doing at any given point.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 10:11
Wow, I have just I've never heard that before. But that that totally makes sense that you need different nutrients at different times. So you mentioned folate and calcium and iron. Why are these ingredients? I mean, so important? I mean, what is it that they do? And you mentioned iron? I mean, we know that carries oxygen, and what are some of the other components that what do they do during pregnancy?

Doreen Bloch 10:33
Yes, so the most important one that you'll hear doctors talk about a lot is folate, or folic acid. For pregnancies with single babies 400 mcg daily is recommended. But with twin pregnancies, it actually goes up to 1000 mcg per day recommended. And the rationale for that is prevention of neural tube defects. The second, I would say group of vitamins that is important to keep top of mind is your B vitamins, especially vitamin B12. The reason that B vitamins are so important is that it helps in the formation of red blood cells and DNA. But how it kind of manifests also is from a symptom level is improving mood and energy. Of course, during pregnancy, it's very common to feel more lethargic or fatigued. But B12 can really help to improve mood and give that energy boosting ability. It's something that many vegans and vegetarians are also deficient in. So something to keep in mind as well, if there are different dietary preferences or dietary restrictions. Iron, as we talked about, you know, critical for oxygen and for blood. And in some cases, if twin mamas are deficient in iron, a double dose of iron is recommended. So again, just something to continue monitoring to others that I want to mention is DHA and vitamin D, there was a study from China in 2021, that showed that twins are at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is very important for the immune system, as well as for energy storages. So making sure that twin moms are getting sufficient levels of vitamin D is also really, really important.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 12:22
Wow, that, you know, see, this is something I feel like I'm learning so much more in in this 30 minutes than I have throughout my whole entire pregnancy with twins.

Doreen Bloch 12:34
We hear that a lot over at Ellement's headquarters. Yes, there is really so much to unlock when it comes to nutrition and supplementation. And that's where, you know, it's been really exciting to almost be an extended part of the care team because traditional OBGYN and they will fully say this, but they're not trained in nutrition or supplementation. So their knowledge is pretty much just add the kind of frontier of wealth take a prenatal supplement, but beyond that, they don't really have much more insight. And so that's where it's been really great to partner with new mamas and mamas to be to really unlock even more learning and understanding about why all of this is so important and just can help people feel so much better and help them have a healthier pregnancy.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 13:20
No, we really appreciate that. So I mean, considering this is Twin Talks, and we're all about twin So so how do the twin pregnancies differ so much from singleton pregnancies in terms of the nutritional needs? Um, you had mentioned that in some of these cases, like with vitamin D, you said the twins are at much greater risk. And for iron, I think that they need to double dose. What other cases is it automatic? Hey, they just need double of everything, or does it vary with each type of nutrient?

Doreen Bloch 13:48
It definitely varies absolutely critical to keep in mind that it is not about just doing a double dose of everything that actually could be dangerous. In some cases, for example, with fat soluble ingredients like vitamin A, you definitely do not want to just double the dose of everything. And I think that's also a common misconception because a lot of twin moms are not getting any kind of guidance when it comes to a prenatal I'm sure there are many mamas who have just said, Oh, well, let me just take double the dose. That is really important not to do. So according to a systematic review that was published in 2021. The researchers noted that more than one fetus can lead to increased metabolic requirements and a faster depletion of maternal macro and micronutrient reserves than in a singleton pregnancy. This is a very important systematic review because unfortunately, there is just not as much data about how nutrition should differ between Singleton's versus multiples. There are some things as we've talked about with folate for example, or B vitamins or DHA, vitamin D iron, where there is a bit more data, but fundamentally researchers have to do more to better understand multiple pregnancies and what the nutritional load is. Ultimately, what these researchers found is that more frequent blood testing is really important because you want to get ahead of making sure that mamas who are carrying multiples are not having their iron depleted, or that they're not vitamin D deficient, etc. So just having a much more careful eye on the new nutrient profile of any given pregnancy with multiples is really important. And also keeping in mind that with ingredients like folate, or the B vitamins, or vitamin D, and iron, that those ones you can go higher in the dosage Then, with your standard prenatal because of carrying multiples, but that does not mean that you should do a double dose of everything in the prenatal. And that's where the customization becomes really key.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 15:52
Wow, no, that's really interesting. And then you mentioned doing frequent blood testing. And that's something I was thinking, wow, that makes sense. I know, in my pregnancy, I didn't do any form of blood testing or monitoring for nutrition during during the, you know, any of the pregnancies. So I'm like, Oh, that makes sense. Am I getting enough? You know, vitamin D and iron? Like, that would be kind of a hello? But that's certainly not being done.

Doreen Bloch 16:20
And it can be asked for as well. And I think, again, it's something that often isn't top of mind for doctors, they just think, Okay, well, if you're feeling fine, and everything seems okay, on the surface, well, then, we don't need to bother testing. But these things can kind of creep up on people where, you know, you might be at a certain vitamin D level, where you don't have any symptoms that seem particularly glaring, but then maybe your vitamin D level dips to a deficiency, and then those symptoms start to appear. Well, it takes time for vitamin D to build up in the in the blood about 30 to 90 days. And so you want to get ahead of it, you want to have that data to say, Oh, wow, I'm a little low on my vitamin D levels. Maybe I'm not feeling anything adverse. But let's start to supplement so that, you know, once the baby is start to take more of that vitamin D, that the mama isn't suddenly extremely deficient and then feeling those symptoms. By the way, I also it's worth mentioning that this differs by country as well, we often talk with people in different locations, like in Europe or the Middle East, and they often have much more frequent blood testing. That's just part of their standard care routine. But what we hear here in the United States is that it's just not as common and that people really need to advocate for it. And I think especially that is so important in twin pregnancy.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 17:41
Oh, absolutely. So I mean, that's, that's differently. I feel like I you know, here in the US, we don't do the blood testing least I'm not aware of it. But I mean, that's great to know that in other areas and regions that that is part of the standard protocol. I'm also thinking just you know, so in addition to blood testing, what else should twin Moms be doing differently in terms of taking prenatal vitamins? I mean, like, how would they find out what they should be taking?

Doreen Bloch 18:05
Well, besides talking to Ellements, there are a few other ones that I haven't mentioned, you know, again, the folate, B vitamins, iron, DHA, vitamin D, those ones are really important also calcium in the second trimester. The other thing that I want to mention that we're seeing become more common, but our maternal fetal medicine, medical advisors highly recommend also adding baby aspirin into the daily routine. Now this is not a supplements. It is an OTC medicine. But this is something that elements can include in our daily packets for twin moms or anyone who is at higher risk of preeclampsia. Have you heard about that? Taking baby aspirin daily for twin pregnancies?

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 18:50
No, I have not personally heard of that. Maybe this is something very, very new recommendation is newer.

Doreen Bloch 18:56
Yes. So that's, that's another one to keep in mind and just to talk with your doctor about because it is increasingly becoming recommended to minimize that preeclampsia risk.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 19:05
We're going to take a break and when we come back, we're explore more about prenatal vitamins and twin pregnancy and talk to our guests.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 19:18
Well, welcome back to Twin talks. Before the break, we were talking with Doreen block of element about the importance of getting the right nutrition for twin pregnancies. So now let's bring our guests back into the conversation. So I think, okay, Emily, when you started taking prenatal vitamins, um, did you feel like you had, like, all the information you needed to take an informed choice? Prenatal vitamins, I know, you said you had a resource, but did you feel, you know, really well equipped?

Emily Abcede 19:35
I felt relatively equipped, but I will say, you know, I'm actually a pediatric nurse practitioner. So I know how to research things. And I found it relatively difficult to find the research and resources, I felt lucky that I was able to find resources. But it did make me think that a lot of people could have a lot of difficulty finding good resources on, you know, the difference between a good vitamin and an average vitamin and and like, what, how to take them. So I felt like I actually had the tools I needed, but I was surprised how hard it was to find it.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 19:35
Absolutely. So Emily, I mean, obviously, in your profession, you have access to a wealth of information that the average twin pregnant mama doesn't have. Yeah, but I mean, I mean, did you feel like you were able to get the information and the vitamins that you needed?

Emily Abcede 19:35
Yes, I did. And actually, you know, part of that has, in fact, increased my passion to help others reset as well. I love that you're doing this talk, because I think it needs to be more accessible to everyone, the ability, at least, to make a more informed decision, especially because at my prenatal appointments, I was surprised how uneducated in some ways, my OB GYN was some of the things that she recommended. I was like, actually, I think there's more updated research than that, I felt like there. You know, unfortunately, I know, as a practicing professional, you kind of get into the grid, and you're taking care of patients and updating things as it comes up. But it's usually with bigger issues. And you don't always go back and get the updates on things like vitamins. And so your providers aren't always completely up to date on things like vitamins because they're focused on other bigger issues, and they arise and bigger issues. But it's really important.

Sunny Gault 19:35
It is really important. I have to say, for me, I did not feel prepared at all. But I also wasn't under the impression that it was that big of a deal. Right? With my twin pregnancy and my perinatologist you know, I figured that would be something that was brought up in conversation. And if it was really important that they would have put more emphasis on it. So I also really wasn't too stressed out about it, I just kind of thought, oh, I guess I'm gonna get the nutrients and everything I need in whatever I am eating right that I don't need to take anything else. So did I feel prepared? No, but I also didn't think it was that big of a deal. Now, there was a situation when I was like 32 weeks pregnant, where I had a little bit of a scare, where I went into the hospital because I felt like I was having some pretty intense, I don't know, Braxton Hicks or something like that, but I knew it was way too early to deliver the babies. Turns out that I just needed to hydrate more. So that was a little bit of a scare for me. And that did make me think more about nutrition and made me think more about prenatals and the nutrients that my body was getting. And I started to do more research. But then sometimes when you go digging, and this, you'll find one article that says one thing and another article says another thing, and it can become very confusing for someone who is, you know, just trying to find the information, someone who's not an expert.

Doreen Bloch 21:12
Yeah, so I kind of joke that you shouldn't need a PhD in prenatals to pick a prenatal but it really feels like that today, there's just so many almost like conflicting resources, and it's very hard to understand what each given person should be taking.

Sunny Gault 21:26
Right? And if your medical provider or your perinatologist isn't giving you that information, then what are you supposed to do?

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 21:35
It's almost like okay, we're concerned about you know, that the really the big things about like, you know, gestational diabetes, we're, you know, concerned about low amniotic fluid, we're concerned about, you know, things that are specific to multiple pregnancies but and, you know, vitamins and nutrition are just just the afterthought and so, yeah, the time isn't really spent in terms of, you know, getting that information and providing that to us that the patients so I mean, I can say during I'm thankful that we do have other resources in your ear here. And I mean, this is this is news for me to really learn about how the nutritional aspect can be so different for especially for twins. So most of the time, is it okay, you know, take your vitamins in the morning. Is that a good practice? You know, we want to simplify things and many moms are looking for, we'd like one a day vitamins to simplify the process, but I think you might be encouraging some to take vitamins in the morning and evening. So what benefit does that provide?

Doreen Bloch 22:37
Yes, this is really not talked about enough and it's absolutely critical. Basically, vitamins are absorbed differently in the body depending on which vitamins they are. So some vitamins like A E, D, Vitamin K, they are fat soluble, so they are better absorbed with fats. Other vitamins like B and Vitamin C are water soluble, so they're better absorbed on an empty stomach just with a glass of water. There are even some ingredients within prenatals that cancel each other out for example, iron and calcium should not be taken at the same time. And so with element we've designed the first ever dual packet twice daily packet which makes it very simple to take all of the guesswork out of which ingredients you should be taking at any given time. So the first side of this packet is the capsules that you need to take in the morning with just water and then the second side are your Pm or afternoon evening vitamins which you're going to take with food. So this is something that is often overlooked as you said there's often this kind of drive towards simplicity but what is kind of just for the simplicity purpose or almost simplifying things for manufacturers because they just want to put as many ingredients as possible into a few capsules for you to take is actually not fully optimal for what your body needs. And so we have really put together this very unique way to give you everything you need at just the right time. And it's something that we see really benefit all of the people who are taking element because they're able to really get the full dosage with things not cancelling each other out and being absorbed most most optimally.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 24:32
Well that's really interesting. So you know, I I've never again I've felt like I'm learning so much I've never heard about the difference in vitamins you know, sort of the elements different cancelling each other out and whether they should be taken if they're fat soluble or water soluble, so you know is looking at the ingredients and this is okay, this is 100% of your nutritional needs. Okay, done. Right? Yeah, take it. Okay, I'm done.

Doreen Bloch 25:00
That doesn't mean that you're absorbing all of that, though. So it's it's such a good point.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 25:05
Yeah. You've talked about customizing prenatal vitamins. And I guess what does that really mean?

Doreen Bloch 25:13
Each body is different. And each pregnancy is different. And so your prenatal should be to ideally, and I think this speaks to what I've sort of alluded to this that a lot of times the products that we're using in our daily lives, and this is the same way for prenatal supplements, it's often designed for simplicity, or for manufacturing purposes to be as easy and cost effective as possible, but not necessarily fully optimal for each person. And so this is where I think you see a lot of times within the prenatal supplement space, pregnant mamas having to change their prenatal multiple times over the course of pregnancy. You know, as Sonny mentioned, there are a lot of people who have who feel very sensitive to prenatals. And that might be because certain dosages are too high. For example, if iron is higher than what you need at a given time, that can often contribute to feelings of nausea or, or just general upset stomach. So these are the types of things that if you can define a new manufacturing process to create kind of really what is the holy grail in this space of creating a customized or personalized prenatal, that's really what would be ideal for each person. And so we think of customization in two ways. The first is customizing by stage of pregnancy. So for example, folate is much more important in the first trimester than it is in the third. Calcium is very important in the second trimester. Iron is very important in the third trimester, because blood volume doubles by the ninth month, but also looking at the individual, their health history, any known nutritional deficiencies, dietary patterns, so if they're vegan, or gluten free, any allergies that they might have. And then we have a process where every 30 days, we're asking about different health experiences. So if people tell us on their 30 Day form, that they've been struggling with Restless Leg Syndrome, or brittle nails, or high blood pressure, whatever it might be, we can adjust the prenatal dosages in order to help support them. And, you know, I want to caveat that a vitamin is not going to solve every issue. For example, gestational diabetes is very top of mind for people in the second trimester. There isn't a, you know, vitamin that will just cure gestational diabetes or minimize the risk. But there are certainly vitamins and nutrients that can help with certain symptoms, or certain experiences. For example, with Restless Leg Syndrome, increasing calcium and magnesium, we often find that people respond very well to that within 10 to 14 days, it helps them with something that a doctor might just say, well, it'll be done by the time you finish your pregnancy, that's not good enough for us, we want to be able to help people if we can, by customizing the prenatal experience.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 28:12
Oh, that's, that's so great, as you're talking there, and I think about the idea of having, I don't know, a support a team member who's actually listening and concerned about some of these maybe minor things when you're talking about brittle nails, I mean, like just that in of itself and saying, hey, oh, you know what, let's, let's, let's customize it, let's adapt, and, you know, your your current intake, and that's important to us. I mean, that's what a great resource because I think, I don't know, my experience is just, again, kind of the the providers are often just saying, Okay, well, you don't have just gestational diabetes. Great. Okay. Next subject, and, you know, the literal complaints like, oh, you know, I'm tired, or I have, you know, a Dima, or I'm just, you know, I'm feeling sluggish, or I think, you know, you'd mentioned earlier like Vitamin B 12. has, you know, mood and energy. And, you know, that would be great to be able to say, hey, yeah, I've been feeling tired. And while there's actually somebody who, who cares about and can do something about it,

Doreen Bloch 29:13
Right. And getting ahead of it as well, because I think, you know, given the frequency of care appointments, for prenatal oftentimes, we're very time strapped and the provider is very time strapped. And so you're right, that the focus, of course, is on the more kind of, quote unquote important items, doctors OBGYN they're often not trained in nutrition, I think most OBGYN would fully admit that they don't have all of the necessary training or they don't stay up to date on things related to nutrition and supplementation. And so that's where it's been really exciting to see how we can support at element as kind of an extended part part of the care team where it is through this lens of nutrition and supplementation and really supporting both the pregnant I'm at and, and they're doctors with, how can we help in in our little way, just to make each person feel as as optimal as they can throughout their pregnancy experience?

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 30:10
Oh, that's so great. Now I'm curious Emily. So you know, kind of drawing from both your personal and your professional experience. I'm curious, what do you think about you know, the idea of having customized vitamins for twin mama pregnancies.

Emily Abcede 30:10
I love the idea, I would have been all over that. If I'd known about it. Personally, I felt torn at times about the whole absorption thing, because I was aware of the absorbing different vitamins differently and different foods, different vitamins absorb or make it worse and, and feeling torn. So I have a feeling confident that I was absorbing better or more optimized by having some an empty stomach, it's not like food would have been confidences thing. And also just said, that confidence that you know, perhaps if I'm struggling with how it makes me feel I could have someone actually try to problem solve that the healthcare providers are unfortunately not going to be able to help them very much most of the time, and kind of brainstorming what might help them tolerate the vitamin better.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 30:10
Yeah, I think I mean, I'm hoping that all the twin mamas today are being able to take this in and, you know, think about, you know, just being really proactive. I mean, we all know we have to we're ultimately our own advocate throughout our own twin pregnancy. So I'm hoping that they'll be able to have a much more positive experience feeling really healthy and having a, you know, healthier outcome for their babies as well. I totally agree. So I just say, well, thank you so much for our guests who joined us for this episode today. And be sure to check out https://newmommymedia.com, where we have all of our podcast episodes, plus videos and more.

Christine Stewart-Fitzgerald 30:51
And that wraps up our show for today. So thanks for listening. If you like Twin Talks as much as we do, please consider checking out the amazing businesses that sponsor our show week after week. And we'd also love for you to tell other twin parents about this resource, which of course is absolutely free. And if you want to check out some of the other podcasts we produce, such as Newbies, Parents Savers, The Boob Group and Preggie Pals, then visit our website at https://newmommymedia.com Thanks for listening to Twin Talks- parenting times two!

Disclaimer 31:19
This has been a New Mommy Media production. Information material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes or opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of new mommy media, and should not be considered facts. While such information and materials are believed to be accurate. It is not intended to replace or substitute for professional medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating healthcare problem or disease, or prescribing any medication. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health, or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.