When Shaniqua arrived at the AHFA office, it was Jamie who she met with for her initial prenatal appointment. Moving mid-pregnancy had caused Shaniqua to get out of some regular routines, including taking prenatal multivitamins as she had during her previous three pregnancies. As a result, she expected that her iron levels might be low, and the tests confirmed her mother’s intuition was right. "I was scared at first,” she said. But, it was during that first appointment that Shaniqua received a bottle of Vitamin Angels' multiple micronutrient supplements. "I started taking my prenatals right away. Now, I am taking them every day, as I should," Shaniqua commented.
"Most of my moms who have had babies before know what a prenatal vitamin is,” Jamie said. “[They] know that they … should be taking it most of the time. But most of my moms I would say, don't know why they should be taking it.” While the mothers Jamie sees typically want the best for themselves and their children, they sometimes lack knowledge of specific vitamins and minerals. “We tell them that folic acid helps to prevent, for example, Spina Bifida… we use that term a lot, just because it's so highly recognized. No one wants that necessarily to be their baby. Everyone wants a healthy baby. And just to make sure that they know that the prenatal vitamin is for their baby also. It's not just for their wellbeing. It's for their baby's health," she added.
Shaniqua has been regularly taking Vitamin Angels' prenatal multivitamins, and with less than a month away from delivering her baby, she shared, "Everything is back to normal with my iron and blood levels!" "You know, it's a lot... It's pretty crazy the pains I have been having, on and off, but …my family is excited. Kids are excited...I just want to hold her."