Resource Round-Up: Nutrition and Maternal Health

By: Kayla McGowan, Project Coordinator, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Sarah Hodin, MPH, CD(DONA), LCCE, National Senior Manager of Maternal Newborn Health Programs, Steward Health Care

Ensuring proper nutrition is key to optimizing the health of pregnant women, mothers and newborns. Both undernutrition and overnutrition are major drivers of poor maternal health outcomes in low-, middle- and high-income countries. Undernutrition in pregnancy can lead to micronutrient deficiencies that compromise maternal health. Iron deficiency anemia, for example, affects one out of every two pregnant women in developing countries and contributes to 20% of global maternal deaths. Overnutrition can also cause a cascade of poor maternal and newborn health outcomes.

As the world undergoes a “nutrition transition”—in which urbanization and rising income contribute to increased high-calorie food consumption and less-active lifestyles—more women are developing noncommunicable diseases such as obesity. Pregnant women who are overweight or obese may face increased risks of numerous complications, including gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, pregnancy-induced hypertension, cesarean sections, stillbirths, preterm births and others.

Depending on the context, interventions to improve maternal nutrition should aim to provide adequate dietary intake and supplementation in pregnancy and take into account the many contributing lifestyle factors for women at risk of overweight and obesity.

In recognition of World Food Day, the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) has rounded-up resources related to nutrition and maternal health.

Featured resources

Maternal and child nutrition series
The Lancet | June 2013

Maternal obesity series
The Lancet | October 2016

Nutrition and the continuum of care: Pre-conception to the post-natal period
Advancing Dialogue on Maternal Health Series | July 2014

Maternal undernutrition: Evidence, links and solutions
Advancing Dialogue on Maternal Health Series | December 2010

Key papers

Impact of maternal under nutrition on obstetric outcomes
Journal of Endocrinological Investigation | January 2015

Reports and guidelines

PMNCH knowledge summary #18: Nutrition
Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health | 2012

Are you a researcher, program implementer or policymaker working on a project related to nutrition and maternal health? We want to hear from you!

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