It is essential that an expectant mother receives adequate nutrition to promote the healthy development of her unborn child. To this end, the market is awash with maternal vitamin supplements. A new review asks whether these pills are as necessary as they claim to be.
Maternal deficiency of certain nutrients has been linked to a number of negative health consequences for mother and child.
Risks include restricted fetal growth, low birth weight, skeletal deformities, and pre-eclampsia.
These well-known dangers support a huge vitamin, mineral, and micronutrient industry aimed at pregnant women.
Typically, these tablets will contain 20 or more vitamins and minerals, often including a range of B vitamins, C, D, E, K, iodine, folic acid, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and copper.
Are pregnancy supplements as essential to maternal health as they claim to be? |
Source: medicalnewstoday