Based on our observations at the Motherisk Program (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada), we have noticed that prenatal multivitamin supplementation has been a challenge among pregnant women. Our interest was to study prenatal multivitamin supplementation among this specific group of women to determine what aspects of the supplement and the pregnancy experience affect supplementation co...

BACKGROUND Hypertension in pregnancy stand alone or with proteinuria is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity in the world. Epidemiological and clinical studies have shown that an inverse relationship exists between calcium intake and development of hypertension in pregnancy though the effect varies based on baseline calcium intake and pre-existing risk factors. The purp...

BACKGROUND The study objective was to understand community preparedness for iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation early in pregnancy and to inform the design of a large-scale trial of early introduction of IFA supplementation in rural Bangladesh. METHODS 66 in-depth interviews (pregnant women, husbands, and older women in the household), 20 key-informant interviews, 3 focus-group discussi...

BACKGROUND Low birth weight and maternal anemia remain intractable problems in many developing countries. The adequacy of the current strategy of providing iron-folic acid (IFA) supplements only during pregnancy has been questioned given many women enter pregnancy with poor iron stores, the substantial micronutrient demand by maternal and fetal tissues, and programmatic issues related to timing...

Uterine-derived factors are essential for conceptus development and secretion of the maternal recognition-of-pregnancy factor, interferon-tau (IFNT), in ruminant species. The objectives of this study were to determine whether fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) is expressed in the bovine uterus during early pregnancy in cattle and to determine whether FGF-2 supplementation affects IFNT mRNA and ...

BACKGROUND Prenatal lead exposure is associated with deficits in fetal growth and neurodevelopment. Calcium supplementation may attenuate fetal exposure by inhibiting mobilization of maternal bone lead and/or intestinal absorption of ingested lead. OBJECTIVE Our goal was to evaluate the effect of 1,200 mg dietary calcium supplementation on maternal blood lead levels during pregnancy. METHOD...

BACKGROUND It has been reported that folic acid supplementation before and/or during pregnancy could reduce the risk of congenital heart defects (CHDs). However, the results from limited epidemiologic studies have been inconclusive. We investigated the associations between maternal folic acid supplementation, dietary folate intake, and the risk of CHDs. METHODS A birth cohort study was conduc...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this analysis was to test the impact of daily supplementation with multiple micronutrients (MM) during pregnancy on Zn, vitamin A and folate status compared to iron only (Fe). MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was carried out during 1997-2000 in a semi-urban community in Morelos state, Mexico. Women were randomly assigned to MM (n= 249) or Fe (n= 258) and received supp...

Higher intakes of fish/seafood containing DHA omega-3 fatty acid have been associated with longer gestation durations and higher infant birth weights. Recent controlled trials (including the DOMInO trial from the Adelaide group in Australia with DHA supplementation at 800 mg/day) found that DHA supplements during pregnancy could significantly reduce the incidence of very preterm births (below 3...

Background The prevalence of IgE-mediated food allergy has increased in the developed world, particularly among children less than 5 years of age. Widespread folate supplementation during pregnancy commenced in the 1980’s in an attempt to decrease the rate of neural tube defects. This introduction corresponded with the increase in inflammatory disease in children, including allergic conditions....