The History of the Prenatal Pill & Why the Status Quo Just Doesn’t Cut It

By: Jessica D’Argenio Waller, MS, CNS, LDN

Nutrition advice for a healthy pregnancy has been making the rounds for millennia (pomegranates and pig feet were common offerings in the Middle Ages¹), but it's only within the past 100 years that the prenatal vitamin was invented—and only within recent decades that it was popularized. Here's what to know about the history of the prenatal pill, how synthetic prenatal vitamins are made—and where the new standard for prenatal supplements is headed. Hint: The future's looking very bright. 

A brief history of the prenatal pill

When looking at the history of the prenatal pill, we start with folic acid, which essentially is the entire category's raison d'être. In 1931, scientist Lucy Wills published groundbreaking research about the existence of folic acid in the British Medical Journal. Wills discovered that when pregnant women diagnosed with anemia ate Marmite (which is rich in B vitamins—folate is also known as vitamin B9), their symptoms of anemia began to decrease. Folate was called "the Wills Factor" until 1941, when the nutrient was first isolated from spinach. 

Decades later, in the 1980s, several clinical studies suggested a link between folic acid deficiency in pregnancy and infants born with neural tube defects, prompting folic acid supplements to be prescribed to pregnant women who were considered "high risk"², usually if they had previously given birth to an infant with a neural tube disorder. 

More research began to show that the majority of pregnant women had a mild folate deficiency²—even though they weren't displaying signs of a full clinical disorder—suggesting that even healthy women could benefit from supplementing their folate levels in pregnancy. 

In 1992, the US Public Health Service recommended 400 micrograms of supplemental folic acid be taken daily by all women of childbearing age.³ This spurred the birth of prenatal supplements with added folic acid as we generally know them today—though they've been through several significant iterations since their debut.   

Nowadays, taking a prenatal supplement probably tops your to-do list if you're considering getting pregnant—especially given the fact that we now know the neural tube closes between day 15 and day 28 of pregnancy⁴. But it's unlikely that your grandmother or even your mother took a prenatal pill, as the supplements were primarily prescribed to high-risk pregnancies until their broader use in the 1990s. 

Numerous women in the 20th century gave birth to healthy babies sans prenatal pills. Instead, they were able to glean the necessary nutrients to support their pregnancies through food. Granted, this was during a time when farmed food contained more natural vitamins and minerals than it does now, thanks to decades of soil-depleting farming practices⁵. 

Today, taking a prenatal supplement is less of a suggestion and more of a necessity to ensure any nutrient gaps are covered. Prenatal supplements can be especially helpful to correct an existing nutrient deficiency. 

Meanwhile, clinical research on prenatal nutrition continues to evolve. In the nearly 100 years since the Wills Factor was discovered, further studies have shown that 40% of the US population has one or two genetic mutations on the MTHFR gene that affects the metabolism of folate, including synthetic folic acid⁶. Responding to the findings, numerous supplement companies have started to include methylated folate (5-MTHF) in their prenatal pills in an effort to improve bioavailability. Today, some new research suggests that continuing to supplement with folic acid later in pregnancy, well after the neural tube has closed, may be linked to increased risk of asthma in children⁷, though more large-scale studies are needed to confirm the findings. 

These studies show that, just like our grandmothers' generation inherently knew, nutrients are more effectively absorbed from food⁸ than from synthetic pills, begging the question: Is a prenatal pill still the best choice for you and your growing baby? 

Related: How to Choose the Right Prenatal Pill

How prenatal pills are made and the lack of regulation standards

Most prenatal pills consist of separate synthetic vitamin and mineral compounds that are then combined into a pill or capsule in a lab. In some cases, these micronutrients are derived from naturally occurring sources, like plants or animal byproducts, but in other cases, manufacturers rely on human-made compounds that are synthesized from industrial processes. (Sometimes, a petroleum base is used, as is common in vitamin A synthesis⁹.) Synthetic forms tend to be much less expensive to create and produce at scale—so they have become commonplace. 

It's worth noting that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not empowered to review or regulate supplements before they hit the market—which means that companies themselves are solely responsible for ensuring their products are safe and meet labeling and quality requirements before they hit the store shelves. While some supplement companies proudly share the sources of their raw ingredients and submit to third-party label verification and testing to ensure they uphold good manufacturing processes, the same can't be said for every synthetic prenatal pill brand in the category. 

With no gold standard for review or regulation, discrepancies abound: A 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office found that the majority of prenatal supplements tested included at least one nutrient in an amount that didn't match what was on the label¹⁰. 

The findings are worrying, as inaccurately labeled products could result in pregnant people  consuming too much or too little of the nutrients needed for a healthy pregnancy. But experts state that the benefits of taking a prenatal supplement still outweigh the potential risks. That said, could there be a better option? That's where Nunona comes in.

Related: Real vs. Synthetic Nutritional Supplements: Why What You Take Matters

Synthetic vs. food-based sources of select micronutrients: How Nunona compares

While synthetic nutrients are typically manufactured through complex chemical processes, Nunona takes a food-first approach. Nunona Mama Bites deliver essential pregnancy nutrients through organic, whole foods that your body naturally recognizes—and efficiently absorbs. 

Nunona and the future of maternal nutrition 

When it comes to maternal nutrition, it's only natural that you want to give your developing baby the best possible start. We know that food sources of vitamins and minerals are more bioavailable—and there's no label-reading required on a lemon. That's where Nunona stands tall: with a pre+postnatal vitamin that delivers 27 micronutrients entirely sourced from organic whole foods. Nunona's Mama Bites wholly replace the need for a prenatal pill, plus they're third-party tested and manufactured in the US. By prioritizing closest-to-nature nutrition, Nunona is reimagining a world in which mothers and babies can thrive, thanks to whole food forms of the crucial vitamins and minerals necessary for this major life stage—now, and well into the future. 

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