Nutritional interventions update: vitamin D supplements during pregnancy

Overview

The World Health Organization’s comprehensive antenatal care (ANC) guideline WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience was first published in 2016 with the objective of improving the quality of routine health care that all women and adolescent girls receive during pregnancy. The overarching principle – to provide pregnant service users with a positive pregnancy experience – aims to encourage countries to expand their health-care agendas beyond survival, with a view to maximizing health, human rights and the potential of their populations. Recognizing that ANC provides a strategic platform for important health-care functions, including health promotion and disease prevention, 14 out of the 49 recommendations in the WHO 2016 ANC guideline relate to nutritional interventions in pregnancy.

In April 2019, the Executive Guideline Steering Group (GSG) prioritized two of these antenatal nutrition recommendations for updating in response to new evidence on these interventions, namely:

1. Vitamin D supplements during pregnancy
2. Multiple micronutrient supplements during pregnancy.