Lee Swanson Research Update

Prenatal Vitamins Linked to Healthier Babies

January 2007

The nutritional status of pregnant mothers plays a tremendous role in determining the health of their infants. In fact, a new study shows that prenatal vitamins may reduce the risk of low birth-weight babies for certain women.

Low birth weight, or infants weighing less than 2,500 grams (about 5.5 lbs.) at birth, is a major predictor of death during infancy and is also associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and high blood pressure later in life.

Researchers at the University College of Medical Sciences in Delhi, India and colleagues initiated the study “to evaluate the effect of multimicronutrient supplementation for undernourished pregnant women on the birth size of their offspring, incidence of low-birth-weight infants and early neonatal morbidity.”

Researchers studied a group of 200 women who were 24 to 32 weeks pregnant. The women either were underweight (with a body mass index less than 18.5) or had a low hemoglobulin level (between seven grams and nine grams per deciliter), which can indicate malnourishment.

The 99 women in the micronutrient supplementation group received a multimicronutrient supplement containing 29 vitamins and minerals once a day, from enrollment until delivery. The 101 women in the comparison group received placebo for 52 days. All subjects also received supplements of iron and folic acid.

The women taking the prenatal vitamins gained an average of 9.2 kg (20.3 lbs.), compared with 8.7 kg (19.2 lbs.) for the women taking the placebo. The babies born to the women taking the prenatal vitamin also weighed an average of 98 g (about 3.5 oz.) more than those born to the women taking the placebo. The rate of low birth weight in the vitamin group was 15.2% compared with 43.1% in the placebo group. Early neonatal morbidity declined from 28% to 14.8% in the micronutrient-supported group.

The study concluded: "Compared with iron and folic acid supplementation, the administration of multimicronutrients to undernourished pregnant women may reduce the incidence of low birth weight and early neonatal morbidity."

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 161:58-64, 2007

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