Moms-to-be who take multivitamins during pregnancy seem to have a significantly reduced risk of having babies with a low birth weight, finds new Canadian research.
The meta-analysis looked at data from 13 previous studies from around the world. Each of the studies compared babies whose mothers took multivitamins to those of women who took only prenatal iron-folic supplementation, or a placebo.
The average birth weight of babies whose mother took multivitamins was 54 grams (about two ounces) higher than those whose mothers took only iron-folic acid supplements, reports a team led by Dr. Prakesh Shah at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Overall, multivitamins in pregnancy led to a 17 to 19 per cent reduction in the risk of low birth compared with iron and folate supplements only, they wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Low birth weight and related complications are considered the most common cause of death in children under age five worldwide, the authors say. Current estimates indicate that 15.5 per cent of about 133 million births worldwide each year are of low-birth-weight infants.
If the mothers of the 75 million born every year in developing countries were given multivitamins, "our most conservative calculations indicate that about 1.5 million births of low-birth-weight infants could be averted worldwide every year," the authors estimate.
"The current strategy recommended by the World Health Organization of providing only iron-folic acid supplementation to pregnant women needs to be challenged in light of the evidence from our review," Shah and his team write.
In a related commentary, two doctors at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, who have also conducted studies in this area, noted there are some limitations to the CMAJ study.
However, Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta and Dr. Batool Azra Haider said strategies to prevent and manage micronutrient deficiencies in women in developing countries are a priority, though "these strategies may require multiple interventions."
These include "fortified food supplements or conditional cash transfers to address household food insecurity, micronutrient interventions that address iron-deficiency anemia and other deficiencies."
As well, measures are needed to reduce the burden of maternal infections such as HIV and malaria, they said.
