Clinical Backing

Ritual ran a 24-week randomized, double-blind, university-led clinical study on its prenatal vitamin compared to a leading competitor in partnership with Brooklyn College and Cornell University. They included a diverse representation of pregnant women to evaluate key biomarkers of maternal and fetal health. The study found that Essential Prenatal, compared to a leading competitor, delivered key results for mom during pregnancy, including 2.4x more biotin in moms’ blood, well-absorbed folate, and lower overall cortisol levels during pregnancy in moms taking Essential Prenatal.†* The results of the study — specifically around folate absorption — are also published in Frontiers in Nutrition, a peer reviewed journal.

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Transparency

Supplements in general can be murky. Ritual differentiates all of its products through its Made Traceable® initiative. The brand provides visible sourcing information for every ingredient in its prenatal (and all of its products). You can see where key nutrients come from —including its supplier, origin, and final place of manufacturing —why they’re included. For me, that transparency added a layer of confidence and peace of mind, especially during a time when every decision felt high-stakes.

Nutrient Composition

Ritual takes a food-first approach: they believe it’s important to aim to meet most of your nutrient needs through a healthy, well-varied diet, and then take a multivitamin to help fill gaps. Their approach to formulation reflects this: they rely on the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey)—one of the world’s most comprehensive nutrition databases—to look at a representative sampling of what Americans eat versus what they actually need. Notably, the body’s nutrient needs change during pregnancy. Ritual focuses on filling those gaps in diet in their prenatal, including  essentials like omega-3 DHA, iron, choline, folate, vitamin D, E,  iodine, and magnesium, along with 8 mcg of vitamin B12 (286% of the RDV), which supports the development of baby’s brain and spinal cord.

When I was doing my research, I found that other brands claim that more is more when it comes to prenatal vitamins, but they already provide more than the daily value for many nutrients before you even factor in the food you eat. If you're looking at ingredients alone, some prenatals may have higher daily values of ingredients than Ritual does. However, any excess you cannot use may end up simply excreted, making for a very expensive pee. Some other brands provide nutrients, like iron, in a dosage that exceeds the RDA and would cause most people to exceed the recommended daily upper limit; others don’t include essential nutrients like omega-3 DHA, choline, or iron at all in their formulations.

Daily Experience

Prenatals are a daily commitment, which means more when you’re pregnant. Some of the options I tried required four pills a day; others had a noticeably fishy aftertaste. During first trimester nausea, that matters. Ritual’s serving size is two average-sized capsules daily, and the brand offers citrus and mint essences. Essential Prenatal is actually clinically proven to be gentle on the stomach and easier to take compared to a leading prenatal.† I took the citrus version and found it pleasantly lemony without lingering aftertaste.The bottle is simple, clear, and thoughtfully designed – just like the brand in its entirety. Ritual was founded by a mom for moms, and that shows.