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The top three prenatal vitamins on the market come from Perelel, Ritual, and Needed. With concerns about neural tube defects and anemia, choosing a high-quality prenatal multivitamin is so important!
During my first two pregnancies, I was iron deficient and took cheap, drugstore prenatals. Despite having a healthy diet and eating more chicken livers, my iron was still low.
Upgrading my supplements made a difference in my third pregnancy when I overcame my iron deficiency. Quality matters.
In this ultimate brand review, I compare the prenatal vitamins from Perelel, Ritual, and Needed. All three brands are incredible, but the devil is in the details!
How I Compared These Brands
I tested and researched the prenatal vitamins from Perelel, Ritual, and Needed. Here are the criteria I used to select the winner:
- Ingredients: a closer look at the vitamins included – these are SO important for preventing birth defects, ensuring healthy brain development, and avoiding pregnancy complications.
- Sustainability: how much waste a brand’s product produces
- Quality: a look at how ingredients are sourced, the quality of those ingredients, and how the brand communicates that information
- Convenience/Ease of Intake: how easy is it to use the product, how many pills are required, does it taste or smell gross
- Price/Overall Value: how much can you expect to pay, and are you getting a good value for your money?
Perelel vs Ritual vs Needed Included Vitamins
TL;DR: Perelel is the only brand that includes all of the vitamins and minerals recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It’s also the only brand with different formulations for each trimester.
Prenatal vitamins are the one supplement you cannot skip when you’re pregnant. Pregnant people have more nutritional needs – fetal development requires a ton of essential vitamins!
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the key vitamins pregnant women need include folic acid*, iron, calcium, vitamin D, choline, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and vitamin C.
*Note: Simply put, folic acid is the synthetic form of folate. And folate is the active form, which is more bioavailable. Up to 60% of women have a gene variation that interferes with their ability to properly metabolize folic acid. Folate is the way to go!
Here’s how Perelel, Ritual, and Needed compare when it comes to these key nutrients and vitamins.
Spoiler alert: all three of these brands use high-quality ingredients; it’s what they include that really differs.
Vitamins | Perelel | Ritual | Needed |
---|---|---|---|
Folate | 1,700mcg (1st trimester) 700mcg (2nd & 3rd trimesters) | 1000mcg | 918mcg |
Iron | 15mg | 18mg | – |
Calcium | 200mg (2nd trimester) 100mg (3rd trimester) | – | 200mg |
Vitamin D | 2,000 IUs | 2,000 IUs | 4,000 IUs |
Choline | 100mg | 55mg | 400mg |
Omega DHA | 250mg | 350mg | – |
Omega EPA | 100mg | – | – |
B1 (thiamine) | 3mg | – | 5mg |
B2 (riboflavin) | 3mg | – | 20mg |
B3 (niacin) | 15mg | – | 25mg |
B5 (pantothenic acid) | 6mg | – | 150mg |
B6 | 28mg (1st trimester) 3mg (2nd & 3rd trimesters) | – | 40mg |
B12 | 10mcg | 8 mcg | 200mcg |
Vitamin C | 50mg | – | 300mg |
Perelel is the only brand that includes all of the vitamins and minerals recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Needed is a close second, but it omits Iron and Omega-3 Fatty Acids. You can buy these separately for an additional cost.
Perelel’s unique packaging allows them to include the Omega-3s in a separate capsule, so you get all of what you need without paying for another product.
I always thought Ritual had the best prenatal vitamins, but this table comparison shows me that they lag pretty far behind.
Perelel’s Changing Formulation
Perelel stands out as they adjust their formulation based on your stage of pregnancy. As an example, you need Folate (a B vitamin that helps make new cells) the most in the first trimester.
Folate/Folic acid helps form the neural tube, which happens in the first few months of pregnancy (CDC). The most common neural tube defects include spina bifida and anencephaly. Folate also helps prevent low birth weight and preterm birth.
Extra folate in Perelel’s 1st trimester prenatal pack gives your baby the best chance of having a healthy brain and spinal cord.
Note: Perelel also has a Conception Support Pack which includes additional folate to support early-stage pregnancy since most women don’t find out they are pregnant until a few weeks in.
Ritual and Needed include the same dose of folate throughout the entire pregnancy.
Another example is in Perelel’s second trimester packet, you get extra calcium and magnesium.
According to Dr. Caitlin O’Connor, ND & Midwife, these vitamins help ease the aches and pains of pregnancy as the fetal skeleton is developing.
Perelel vs Ritual vs Needed Sustainability
TL;DR: Despite having individual packets to toss daily, Perelel has developed a recycling program. Neither Ritual nor Needed has a refill system to avoid throwing away their bottles.
One of Perelel’s best features – the convenient individual packs – is also its downfall when it comes to sustainability.
Critics of the brand say the packaging is quite wasteful since you have to throw out a new plastic packet every day. However, Perelel partners with TerraCycle, so you can recycle the sachets.
That said, Ritual and Needed are slightly worse, in my opinion. Neither brand offers a sustainable refill system like one of my favorite children’s vitamin brands does (lookin’ at you, Hiya!).
I think all three of these brands could be kinder to the environment—particularly Ritual and Needed, which could easily develop a refill system so that you don’t throw away your container each month.
Despite their individual packets, I have to give this one to Perlelel, as they have established a recycling program.
Perelel vs Ritual vs Needed Quality
TL;DR: All of the brands do a fantastic job; it’s a tie.
All three of these brands do an incredible job of being transparent about their manufacturing processes and standards.
They all follow the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) and utilize third-party testing. Needed is even conducting its own research to change perinatal outcomes.
Finding information about the brand’s practices and ingredient choices is easy, so I have to make this one a clear tie.
Perelel vs Ritual vs Needed Convenience & Ease of Intake
TL;DR: Ritual is the easiest to consume with just two capsules. Perelel stands out from the pack with its grab-and-go packets containing everything you need.
Perelel’s packaging is phenomenal for ease of intake. Just grab a packet, throw it in your purse, and you’re good to go!
It reminds me of the company PillPack, which revolutionized taking multiple medications at once with those convenient little packets.
That said, the packets still contain five capsules, which does feel like a lot.
Ritual is certainly the easiest to take with just two capsules, but as we saw with the tables earlier, it has the fewest included vitamins. I do find that there’s no “vitamin burp” with Ritual—the added citrus aroma really helps in that regard.
Last but not least is Needed’s powder. It gets much better reviews than its classic prenatals, which have a whopping serving size of 8 capsules. Cue the morning sickness.
Two scoops of the Needed prenatal powder can be added to a smoothie or milk. If you have a hard time taking pills, this format can be a fantastic solution. However, I personally find it a lot simpler just to swallow a few pills than to lug out my blender or mix a drink together each morning.
This one may be more of a personal preference, but I prefer Ritual or Perelel’s ease of use.
Perelel vs Ritual vs Needed Price & Overall Value
TL;DR: Perelel offers the most for the lowest price.
Perelel bundles all of the essentials in one product, so you don’t have to pay separately for your prenatal vitamins, Omega-3 DHA and Omega-3 EPAs, or probiotics.
That saves you a lot of money when you consider these other brands require you to purchase them separately.
Brand | Prenatal Cost* | Prenatal Includes | Equalizing Cost** |
---|---|---|---|
Perelel | $49.50 | 21-23 vitamins (depending on trimester), Omega DHA + EPA, Probiotics (3rd trimester) | $49.50 |
Ritual | $39 | 11 vitamins, Omega DHA | $85.40 |
Needed | $62.99 | 26 vitamins and minerals | $161.97 |
**The cost to make all three products as equal as possible, including the vitamins, omegas, and probiotics
Perelel smokes the competition on price – you get everything you need in one daily pack. There’s no need to bundle other products together to support your pregnancy. And I love that you get exactly what you need for each stage.
You need more folate at the beginning of your pregnancy, and that’s exactly what you get. Added probiotics in the third trimester regulate blood glucose levels, which helps prevent gestational diabetes and excessive weight gain.
Needed was the worst of the bunch, requiring you to pay over $160 in some months to be more equivalent to Perelel.
While Perelel is still a premium price tag, you get much more for your money.
Conclusion
Overall, the best daily prenatal vitamin goes to Perelel with its unique trimester packs.
While I wish the packaging was more sustainable, the packet system is a very convenient way to take your prenatal supplements. The price is also fantastic for what you get.
I appreciate that you don’t have to buy several products to get everything you need for a healthy pregnancy. It’s all right there in a single packet.
Don’t forget to get 20% off your first Perelel order with code MAMA20.
Further Reading: The 12 Best Gifts For Newly Pregnant Women (Not For Baby!)