Q&A: Can too much vitamin A harm my baby?

Good news for you! Toxicity from vitamin A, which can cause birth defects, is limited to some meat sources, vitamin supplements, or medications like Accutane®. Vegetable sources of vitamin A have never been shown to cause birth defects, and in general represent healthy foods that are good for Mother and Baby. Retinol, the medical name for vitamin A, isn't actually the version of vitamin A in vegetables. To get vitamin A from vegetables, your body metabolizes a provitamin (like beta carotene) into vitamin A. If your vitamin A stores are full, your body doesn't turn the provitamin into vitamin A. (Smart, huh?!) Ingesting excessive vitamin A supplements, vitamin A fortified foods, and certain animal livers, though, can swamp your system with high levels of vitamin A, which may be dangerous to a developing fetus. But vegetable sources are never toxic, no matter how much you eat. So enjoy your butternut squash binges, and the remainder of your pregnancy! Quiz: A Vitamin A Day Keeps What Away?