Lancet Study Pinpoints Prenatal Vitamins That May Reduce Infant Death Risk - Video

A new study has identified prenatal supplements that reduce health risks to small and vulnerable babies. This research was published in The Lancet Global Health journal

Researchers found that compared to folic acid and iron alone, a multiple micronutrient supplement led to a 27% lower risk of giving birth to “small vulnerable newborn types,” or babies who suffered from preterm birth, low birthweight, and small-for-gestational-age birth—the three groups most likely to result in

infant death.

Researchers combined 16 different studies and analyzed how prenatal nutrition correlates to the occurrence of small vulnerable newborns. They explored the effects of two additional types of prenatal supplements on women in low- and middle-income countries: prenatal multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS), similar to a common multivitamin, and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS), which provide caloric nutrition and fatty acids in addition to vitamins.

He found that nearly all of these vitamins conferred some type of benefit—and some of them were hugely beneficial.

“This study underscores the important promise of nutritional supplements in prenatal care in low- and middle-income countries,” says Dongqing Wang, an assistant professor of Global and Community Health at George Mason’s College of Public Health. “In particular, the protective effects of prenatal multiple micronutrients on smallest vulnerable newborn types, particularly those with the greatest mortality risk, strongly supports switching from iron and folic acid supplements to multiple micronutrient supplements as the standard care.”

Reference: The effects of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation on small vulnerable newborn types in low-income and middle-income countries: a meta-analysis of individual participant data, Wang, DongqingAdu-Afarwuah, Seth et al. The Lancet Global Health, Volume 13, Issue 2, e298 - e308