Potassium is a mineral that helps maintain your body's fluid balance. Since blood volume expands during pregnancy by up to 50 percent, slighly more sodium, potassium, and chloride are needed to maintain the extra fluid volume.
Potassium also helps regulate blood pressure, nerve impulses, and muscle contractions.
Add your comments to the bottom of this page. Most prenatal vitamins contain potassium. But it's usually fairly easy to obtain all the potassium you need in food because fruits and vegetables contain high amounts. Potassium is found in bananas, oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe, vegetables, meats, milk, grains, and legumes. Fact-checked by the BabyCenter Editorial Team and approved by our Medical Advisory Board .