If you’re one of the lucky ones who enjoyed popping prenatal pills, then hats off to you.
For the rest of us who spent days choking back our horse pills, I’ve got some good news: now, your partner and or spouse can take one too. There’s a prenatal pill to help men do their part.
WeNatal, the new prenatal supplement company, has designed a pill (in capsule form) to help people with their preconception health—aka getting pregnant.
Many couples need help getting pregnant, that’s normal. But here’s the truth: men’s sperm makes half up the equation when it comes to having a successful pregnancy. (Yes, this should be obvious.) Why then, do doctors usually advise women with preconception care and not men?
Studies show that male infertility issues can be a barrier to pregnancy in 40-50% of cases, due to low sperm concentration, poor sperm motility (sperm movement) or abnormal morphology (the shape and size of sperm). So why are women immediately put on prenatal pills when the couple is trying to get pregnant? What about men?
This gender disparity is exactly why Ronit Menashe and Vida Delrahim founded WeNatal.
“We have made it our mission to reimagine the gender paradigms around pregnancy,” said WeNatal co-founder, Vida Delrahim. “Co-parenting has to start at the very beginning.”
How WeNatal was started
Ronit and Vida, friends and expectant mothers, both experienced miscarriages that made them question medical advice and preconception planning. They noticed how doctors didn’t focus on their husbands’ health while they were trying to get pregnant, only their health [the women’s health].
“After a lot of research and collaboration with fertility experts, we realized just how critical preconception health is, not just for women, but for future fathers.”
According to the WeNatal website, these pills were created with a team of fertility experts, functional medicine doctors (like Dr. Mark Hyman) and holistic nutritionists (like Kelly LeVeque).
There are pills for “Him” and pills for “Her.” Each pill is taken 3 times a day and includes the specific nutrients a man and a woman need for conception. Basically, the pills help men create healthy sperm and women have healthy eggs; the two necessary ingredients for a pregnancy.
How WeNatal works for Him
For men, the goal is to optimize sperm count and quality. Sometimes men have lower sperm count or issues with their sperm due to environmental factors, genetics, or nutritional issues. The WeNatal pills for men provide evidenced-based levels of vitamins and minerals to support sperm count and quality, boost testosterone levels, and promote immune health and general reproductive health.
Apparently, WeNatal can help change men’s sperm in just 3 months, because sperm regenerates in 80 days.
How WeNatal works for Her
For women, the goal is to have high-quality eggs and proper nutritional balance for conception. The WeNatal pills use 28 essential nutrients to promote egg quality and support the nutritional needs of a mother and baby during conception, pregnancy, and nursing.
The ingredients look like most prenatal pills for women (folate, iron, vitamin D, etc.). The biggest difference is that WeNatal uses high-quality, third party tested ingredients that are free of synthetic fillers and colors, non-GMO, gluten, dairy, soy and nut free, and packaged in recycled materials.
Does it work?
The WeNatal website is filled with research that supports why each ingredient in the pills was specifically selected and how that helps couples conceive. But the company just launched last week, so we’ll see how people like it and how successful it is.
As an FYI: WeNatal suggests couples start taking these prenatal pills 3 months before they plan to conceive.
Also, these pills cost more than your free prenatal prescription pills. For couples it’s $99 a month, for individuals it’s $49.95 a month. The price isn’t fantastic, but the company does have a monthly bundle that includes a journal and tools for gratitude, self-reflection, and self-compassion.
Best case scenario: these pills help couples get pregnant.
Worst case scenario: the pills don’t help, but at least men can now experience the joys of choking back prenatal pills.
Abigail Granner 