The recommended amount of vitamin B6 ( also called pyridoxine) for the pregnant woman is currently 1.9 mg. or about 0.6 more than recommended for the non-pregnant woman. Just how much you and your fetus actually need is not exactly known. There is evidence that some pregnant women on normal diet show chemical changes commonly associated with vitamin B6 deficiency. In these women, administration of additional vitamin B6 as a dietary supplement corrects the chemical abnormality. Some researchers have recommended that the requirement may be as high as 10 mg per day. It is interesting to note that some women with depression and /or nausea seem to note improvement of these conditions when vitamin B6 supplements begun. Again, you should discuss with your clinician.
The best source of this vitamin are some vegetables and whole meat products. During milling of white flour, more than 75 percent of the vitamin B6 is destroyed. Since this vitamin is not added to flour products as part of an enrichment program, processed or refined products contain significantly less vitamin B6 than their whole grain counterpart.
