Westab Plus is a prescription prenatal multivitamin and mineral supplement. It comes as a single tablet containing 14 key nutrients, with its most notable ingredients being 1 mg of folic acid and 27 mg of iron. It’s designed to fill nutritional gaps during pregnancy, when the body’s demand for certain vitamins and minerals increases significantly.
What’s in Westab Plus
Each tablet delivers a combination of vitamins and minerals selected for maternal and fetal health. The full ingredient list per tablet:
- Vitamin A: 1,200 mcg (from acetate and beta carotene)
- Vitamin C: 120 mg
- Vitamin D3: 10 mcg (400 IU)
- Vitamin E: 9.9 mg
- Thiamin (B1): 1.84 mg
- Riboflavin (B2): 3 mg
- Niacin (B3): 20 mg
- Vitamin B6: 10 mg
- Folate: 1,700 mcg DFE (equivalent to 1 mg folic acid)
- Vitamin B12: 12 mcg
- Calcium: 200 mg
- Iron: 27 mg (as ferrous fumarate)
- Zinc: 25 mg
- Copper: 2 mg
Why Folic Acid and Iron Matter Most
The two standout ingredients in Westab Plus are folic acid and iron, both at doses specifically chosen for pregnancy.
Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate, a B vitamin the body needs to build DNA and produce new cells. During pregnancy, it plays a critical role in the early development of the baby’s brain and spinal cord. Getting enough folate in the weeks before and after conception dramatically lowers the risk of neural tube defects like spina bifida. The standard recommended dose for pregnant women is 400 micrograms per day. Westab Plus contains 1 mg (1,000 micrograms), which is higher than the baseline recommendation but still well below the 5 mg dose prescribed for women at elevated risk. Your provider may have chosen this higher amount based on your individual needs.
Iron supports the major expansion of blood volume that happens during pregnancy. Your body uses iron to make hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. The 27 mg of iron in Westab Plus comes as ferrous fumarate, a form that’s relatively well absorbed. One thing worth knowing: when iron and calcium are taken together in the same pill, the calcium can reduce how much iron your body absorbs. Some prenatal formulations separate these into two tablets for that reason. Westab Plus combines them in a single dose, which is more convenient but may come with a small tradeoff in iron absorption.
Common Side Effects
The most frequently reported side effects are digestive. Constipation, diarrhea, and stomach upset can all occur, particularly when you first start taking it. These effects are usually temporary and tend to ease as your body adjusts. Taking the tablet with food often helps reduce nausea or stomach discomfort.
Iron will also turn your stools black or very dark. This is completely normal and not a sign of any problem. It’s simply how your body processes the iron that isn’t absorbed.
Drug Interactions
Westab Plus has a long list of potential interactions with other medications. There are 172 known drug interactions on record, including 7 classified as major (meaning the combination should generally be avoided). The remaining interactions are moderate or minor.
Many of these interactions involve the iron, calcium, or folic acid in the tablet interfering with how other medications are absorbed. Thyroid medications, certain antibiotics, and some seizure drugs are common examples. If you’re taking any other prescription or over-the-counter medications, your provider or pharmacist can check for specific conflicts. In many cases, simply spacing the doses a few hours apart is enough to avoid issues.
Prescription vs. Over the Counter
Westab Plus is categorized as both prescription and OTC, though it’s most commonly obtained through a prescription. The practical difference matters: when prescribed, it may be covered by insurance or state assistance programs like Medicaid, which often cover prenatal vitamins. You’ll find it listed as a prenatal multivitamin in pharmacy systems, and your provider will typically write for it by name.
How Westab Plus Compares to Other Prenatals
The prenatal vitamin market is crowded, and the core ingredients are similar across products. What varies is dosing, form (tablet vs. gummy vs. softgel), and whether nutrients like iron and calcium are separated for better absorption. Westab Plus takes a straightforward, all-in-one-tablet approach. Its 1 mg folic acid dose is higher than many over-the-counter prenatals (which typically contain 400 to 800 mcg), making it a common choice for women whose providers want a stronger folate dose without jumping to the 5 mg therapeutic level.
The 200 mg of calcium it provides covers only a fraction of the daily pregnancy recommendation of about 1,000 mg. This is typical of prenatal vitamins, since fitting a full day’s calcium into one tablet alongside iron would create a very large pill and worsen the absorption conflict between the two minerals. Most women will need additional dietary calcium from foods like dairy, fortified plant milks, or leafy greens.