Experts discover surprising supplement can slash the risk of birth complications for pregnant women
Taking a pregnancy supplement can significantly reduce the risk of early labour and low birthweight, new research suggests.
Women have been advised to take folic acid during pregnancy since the 1970s to give their baby the best chance of being born healthy.
But further pregnancy supplements could be lifesaving, reducing the risk of some birth complications by more than a quarter, analysis found.
The NHS recommends eating a healthy and varied diet during pregnancy to get most of the vitamins and minerals needed, while taking folic acid and vitamin D.
But additional supplements could benefit those who are not getting sufficient nutrients from their diet, the findings published in The Lancet Global Health journal indicate.
Low birthweight is the leading cause of death among newborns and a strong predictor of adverse child health and nutrition outcomes throughout life.
US researchers explored the effects of two additional types of prenatal supplements, analysing 16 studies, often in low and middle-income countries.
One was similar to a common multivitamin and another provides caloric nutrition and fatty acids in addition to vitamins.
Additional supplements could benefit those who are not getting sufficient nutrients from their diet, the findings published in The Lancet Global Health journal indicate
They found that compared to taking folic acid and iron alone, a multiple micronutrient supplement led to a 27 per cent lower risk of giving birth to ‘small vulnerable newborn types’.
These were defined as either babies born preterm, low birthweight, and small-for-gestational-age birth — the three groups most likely to result in infant death.
Nearly all of the vitamins were found to have some type of benefit and some of them were ‘hugely beneficial’, they said.
Lead author Dongqing Wang, George Mason’s College of Public Health, Virginia, said: ‘This work is the first to examine the effects of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplements and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements on the emerging outcomes of small vulnerable newborns.
‘The protective effects of prenatal multiple micronutrients on most small vulnerable newborn types, particularly those with the greatest mortality risk, strongly supports switching from iron and folic acid supplements to MMS (multiple micronutrient supplements) as the standard care.’
